Snubbed, Again: Steelers' T.J. Watt Is Going to be Dangerous in 2021
PITTSBURGH -- For the second year in a row, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt was left waiting for his first Defensive Player of the Year award.
Last season, Watt fell short to New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gillmore. At the time, it felt somewhat understandable that Watt was being passed up for a player who led the league in interceptions and helped lead his team to the playoffs while Watt and the Steelers missed the postseason.
When you think of player of the year awards, the team's success plays a role. Yeah, sometimes there are seasons when you can't deny someone is the best in the NFL at what they do, even when their team fails to do anything special, but a lot of the time, making the postseason goes a long way in the player's resume.
Which is why this season, there's no excuse.
"T.J. is visiting from another planet, to be quite honest with you," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said during the season. "He has freakishly unique talent coupled with freakishly unique work habits and mindset, and it produces what you guys witness every week, which in my opinion, is Defensive Player of the Year quality."
At the time, you had a feeling Watt was already a lock to win his first DPOY award. He finished the year leading the NFL with a career-high 15 sacks, 23 tackles for loss, and 41 quarterback hits. He added 53 tackles, 43 solo ones, seven pass defenses, two forced fumbles and an interception.
When the season ended, he was named team MVP, First-Team All-Pro and earned his second Pro Bowl invitation. Enough to feel fairly confident he was the front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year.
But it didn't happen. Watt fell to Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald, who received 27 first-place votes compared to Watt's 20.
Numbers, impact, however you want to compare the two, Watt should have been named the best defensive player of 2020. If there's any silver lining, though, it's that he's about to come back better than ever - and that's a task that already seems impossible.
The only thing scarier than Watt tweeting out that he was upset about the league's decision was hearing from James Conner that Watt wrote down "Defensive Player of the Year" every day in a notebook.
Remember that alien-like work ethic Tomlin talked about? It's all true, and when Watt wants something, he earns it.
If he was playing with a fire lit under him in 2020, trying to prove to the league that he deserves recognition, imagine what the possibilities are in 2021 now that he's been snubbed twice.
If the awards are going to have such a strong impact on popularity - T.J. being a fairly quiet name compared to Donald and Gilmore over the last two years - then Watt knows he's going to have to leave zero doubt on the field next season.
What that means for his stat line is unthinkable. What that means for the Steelers' defense is exciting. And what it means for the Steelers' 13 opposing quarterbacks is terrifying.
T.J. Watt is going to be dangerous in 2021.
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
