Since being selected 30th overall in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft, linebacker T.J. Watt has surged to become everything the Pittsburgh Steelers envisioned — and much more.
Watt’s established himself as not only one of Pittsburgh’s current most critical pieces but one of the franchise’s all-time greats, sitting atop the leaderboard with the most sacks (96.5) in Steelers history. He’s made six consecutive Pro Bowl teams since 2018, has been named First-team All-Pro four times, and was named 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year — which could’ve easily returned to Watt’s possession after 2023. Yet, three-time Super Bowl champion and ex-New England Patriots safety of 13 seasons Devin McCourtey isn’t ready to just pencil Watt in as the upcoming receipt for 2024; McCourtey believes that Watt has reached LeBron James-level status defensively.
“T.J. Watt is kind of turning into like LeBron James on defense,” McCourty explained on DraftKings’ “The Offensive Line with Annie Agar.” “There’s like this certain level of expectation that is greatness but we kind of look at and we just go, ‘That’s just T.J. Watt, that’s what he does.’ But when you take a step back, that’s not normal so T.J. Watt is starting to climb into that Aaron Donald, his brother J.J. Watt, where they just have certain level of dominance every single year.”
James is the undisputed greatest NBA player of this generation, tallying (so far) 20 All-Star appearances, four MVP awards, four championships and the all-time scoring lead through 21 seasons. Long story short, being compared to the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer is among the greatest compliments any athlete can receive in any sport. Watt has earned league-wide respect for surging as one of the NFL’s most elite defensive studs, expected to perform at that level each season.
However, the not-so-glamorous side of being thrown into the same category as James is normalizing being snubbed for awards. For most of James’ career, the now-Los Angeles Lakers star has been thrown into MVP candidacy, seemingly routinely at the end of each regular season. But that doesn’t — and hasn’t — earned James an MVP nod for even half of his seasons in the league. In Watt’s case, the well-deserved high bar that the 29-year-old has set will either work for or against the Pittsburgh star once the season is all set and done.
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