TJ Watt has been widely considered as being one of the best defenders in the NFL for many seasons now. He has been an absolute monster on the football field since he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Through 4 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he now has 230 combined tackles, 168 solo tackles, 62 assists, 59 tackles for losses, and 49.5 sacks. Just like Mike Tomlin said during his press conference last season, "TJ Watt is from another planet," especially with the type of numbers he has been able to post in the NFL.
Bleacher Report recently wrote an article predicting the best player at each position for the 2021 season. They have predicted that TJ Watt will be the best edge defender in the NFL during the 2021 NFL season. Their honorable mention if something does happen to TJ Watt during the season is Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns.
TJ Watt racked up 41 quarterback hits during the 2020 season. Nobody else in the NFL had more than 32. Watt also had 61 pressures during the 2020 season. No one had more than 45. Those are some pretty incredible numbers considering he was snubbed from the Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season.
One of the biggest eye-openers is that TJ Watt has had 13-plus sack seasons in three consecutive seasons. He also led the NFL with eight forced fumbles and 59 pressures in 2019 according to Bleacher Report. It is always funny to see the media compare TJ Watt to Myles Garrett just because they came from the same draft. Although Myles Garrett is a good edge rusher he doesn't come close to the numbers TJ Watt has posted in such a short amount of time in the NFL.
TJ Watt could walk into the 2021 season and play like his hair is on fire because he is going into his contract season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He did say his Defensive Player of the Year snubs over the past few seasons aren't a motivating factor moving forward, but rather TJ Watt knows he never should put a ceiling on his growth on the football field. That is what makes TJ Watt a special player in the NFL and I believe Watt has not yet come close to hitting his peak in the NFL yet. Just wait until he becomes the highest-paid defender in the NFL soon...