Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt has been one of the league’s best defenders for years, but he’s now a clear frontrunner to earn his first defensive player of the year award.
Watt leads the league with 15.0 sacks, 23 tackles for loss, and 41 quarterback hits in 2020. No other player has even 20 tackles for loss and he’s 10 ahead of Cincinnati’s Carl Lawson, who is No. 2 in QB hits.
So it makes sense that Watt’s head coach called the linebacker an extraterrestrial on Tuesday.
“T.J.’s visiting from another planet, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said during his press conference. “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.”
Tomlin announced quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is one of a few Steelers who won’t play in in Pittsburgh’s regular-season finale against Cleveland. Whether or not Watt suits up, he’s made a strong case for DOPY.
