Dallas Cowboys All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons still won't call T.J. Watt a top 5 pure pass rusher in the NFL. Parsons said the exact same thing last year at Super Bowl media row.
"You said a pure pass rusher," Parsons told Zach Gelb of CBS Sports in New Orleans . "If you look at what I do, what Myles do, we all move around. I play right tackle, I play nose, I play left guard, right guard. If you talk about pure pass rushers, it's probably a few of us that are in a league of our own, and everyone else is pretty much just high-end rushers. They don't got versatility. They don't move around. They don't create matchups."
The Steelers did a poor job of scheming Watt for better matchups in 2024. Watt was chipped on the highest percentage of snaps of any player in the league this season. He did so while rushing 546 times as the Steelers' left outside linebacker or defensive end and just eight times anywhere else.
"He is gonna be a Hall of Famer one day," Parsons said about Watt. "But what I say where the league's at now, pure pass rusher. I mean, come on bro. I don't even think it's close."
In addition to his league-best six forced fumbles, T.J. Watt finished the season with 61 tackles (40 solos), 11.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, 27 quarterback hits and two fumble recoveries. Out of Watt's six forced fumbles, three were strip sacks.
Watt suffered a left low ankle sprain late in the team's Week 15 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles . He did not return to the game, and had X-rays that revealed no fracture. He was active for the last three games, but he did not recorded a single sack and was rather quiet overall.
It appears that the combination of Watt's ankle and thumb injury has significantly hindered his ability to rush the passer. The decrease in production also probably dropped him to second-team All-Pro. Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett and Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson received first-team All-Pro honors over Watt.
Outside of an injury-riddled year in 2022, where he was left off the All-Pro list entirely, Watt received first-team All-Pro honors in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023.
Watt is still searching for his second Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year award. Despite Watt leading the league with six forced fumbles, Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain earned this year's honor Thursday night.
Surtain tallied four interceptions and 11 pass deflections this season and the Broncos sported the NFL's third-best scoring defense with him shadowing receivers.
With three first-place votes, T.J. Watt finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year polling, behind Surtain (26), Cincinnati's Trey Hendrickson (11), and Cleveland's Myles Garrett (5). Garrett won the award in 2023.
RELATED: Steelers' T.J. Watt Passed Up for NFL DPOY
More must-reads:
