How in the hell did the NFL miss on T.J. Watt?
Our Bob McGinn takes you deep into the scouting world once again. Watt already has more sacks than any Steeler ever. He'll join his brother in Canton one day. So where did the league go so, so wrong?
This is the continuation of a 2023 series looking at active players and their current situation vis a vis what it was entering the NFL draft. The comments from personnel men were made in the months leading up to the draft for my NFL Draft Series, which dates to 1985. Scouting football prospects is an inexact science, especially when it comes of off-the-field considerations. It has been said that no two evaluators view a player exactly the same way.
By Bob McGinn
It’s fitting that the NFL’s decision in 1982 to begin recording sacks as an official statistic coincided with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ decision to install the 3-4 as their base defense.
This is the 43rd consecutive season that the Steelers have played the 3-4. “Fire Zone” and “Blitzburgh” have become synonymous with professional football in the Steel City.
Woody Widenhofer, who was Chuck Noll’s linebackers coach in 1982-’83, coordinated the move to the 3-4 but never had the title. The nine coordinators were Tony Dungy (five seasons), Rod Rust (one), Dave Brazil (two), Dom Capers (three), Jim Haslett (three), Tim Lewis (four), Dick LeBeau (13), Keith Butler (seven) and Teryl Austin (three).
Certainly, their glamour position was outside linebacker. Year after year the Steelers either drafted or acquired pass rushers, and constant pressure on quarterbacks was the result.
On Monday night, when the Steelers meet the New York Giants at Acrisure Stadium, probably the greatest of the team’s 3-4 outside backers will play his 115th game, counting the postseason, all in the black and gold.
Despite all the great rushers the Steelers have had, just two have ever led the AFC in sacks. The first was Kevin Greene in 1994. The other was T.J. Watt, who not only has led the AFC four times but was the NFL sack king in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
LeBeau, 87, watches a ton of football from home in Montgomery, Ohio. He has coached, coached against or seen all of the linebacking luminaries in Pittsburgh. When it comes to ranking the greatest in Steelers’ history, LeBeau understandably passed.
“I had the honor of coaching probably eight of ‘em,” LeBeau said at mid-week. “Tremendous, every one of ‘em. But I would never want to pick one over the other.
“I hate to start naming names because I’ll leave people off but T.J., he’s right there with ‘em. I’ve seen all the great ones. He’s as good at what he does as any of ‘em I’ve ever seen.”
In his 7 ½ seasons Watt already is the Steelers’ all-time sack leader with 101. The next five outside linebackers on the list are James Harrison (80 ½), Jason Gildon (77), Joey Porter (60), LaMarr Woodley (57) and Greg Lloyd (53 ½).
LeBeau coached the Steelers’ secondary from 1992-’94 before serving two stints as coordinator: 1995-’96, and 2004-’14.
“Probably T.J.’s strongest skill is the fact he’s indefatigable,” said LeBeau, an NFL Hall of Fame inductee in 2010 as a cornerback. “He won’t slow down. He just keeps comin’, keeps comin’.
“When you need pass rushers the most, usually at the end of the game when your opponent has to move the ball to win or tie it, that’s usually when I see him back there around that quarterback about every snap then.
“I’ve not had the honor to be around him for a season to know how he trains, but he’s got to be a religious trainer because his stamina is so good.
“He’s good at everything. He can defend the run. He takes great pursuit angles. He’s got different moves. He’s got great balance and athletic ability.
“But I just think his relentlessness is his strongest (weapon). He’s a competitor, and he’s not gonna stop until he gets his part of it taken care of.”
But Watt wasn’t viewed as a can’t-miss prospect entering the draft in 2017. A resume at Wisconsin that included major knee surgeries and just one year as a starter created considerable caution.
That April, I asked 13 executives in personnel if they regarded Watt as a legitimate first-round draft choice. Ten said he wasn’t, two said he was and one called him a first-round possibility.
Watt did go in the first, albeit late at No. 30 and as the seventh edge rusher behind Myles Garrett, Haason Reddick, Derek Barnett, Charles Harris, Takk McKinley and Taco Charlton.
A starter by the first game of his rookie season, Watt has outperformed all those players with the exception of Garrett.
In December, Tomlin sized up Watt as “the best defensive player on the planet.”
Does Watt’s future include a gold jacket and bust in Canton? “I think without a doubt,” said LeBeau.
Subscribers can access Bob McGinn’s full piece on T.J. Watt — and how the NFL missed on greatness — below.
Miss the Go Long profile of Watt two years ago? Here’s our sitdown.
BASICS
Height: 6-4 ½. Weight: 252. Age: 30. From: Pewaukee, Wis.
40-yard dash: 4.67. Vertical jump: 37. Broad jump: 10-8. Bench press: 21. Short shuttle: 4.13. 3-cone: 6.79. Arms: 33 1/8. Hands: 11. Wonderlic test: 29.
At the 2017 combine, Watt’s marks in the vertical jump, broad jump, short shuttle, 3-cone and Wonderlic test were the best among the linebackers, both outside and inside. His enormous hands were the largest, too.