Did T.J. Watt or Minkah Fitzpatrick rank higher on the NFL Top 100?
By Adam Patrick
The Pittsburgh Steelers defenders were included in the latest release of the list.
The other day, we already saw where the first of three Pittsburgh Steelers players landed on this year’s NFL Top 100 list when Cameron Heyward was given spot No. 84.
Most Steelers fans would agree that Heyward’s ranking was way to low on the 2020 list, especially since he’s coming off a season where he earned a First-Team All-Pro selection for the second time in the last three years.
In addition to the defensive lineman being included, it has been known that two more members of the current Pittsburgh roster would be a part of the latest NFL Top 100 list. We found out who those two guys were on Tuesday.
Two Pittsburgh Steelers players rank in the top 40 of this year’s NFL Top 100
Checking in at No. 35 on the latest version of the annual list is Steelers All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
After a trade sent him to Pittsburgh during the early part of the 2019 season, Fitzpatrick blossomed into one of the best safeties in the entire NFL. For the 23-year-old defensive back, this is his first of what will likely be many more appearances on the NFL Top 100 list.
Following his debut on the list at No. 93 last year, Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt jumped all the way to No. 25 on the latest NFL Top 100.
Even at No. 25, it seems like Watt could have still been ranked a bit higher after the impressive season he had in 2019. Like his two teammates who also appeared on the list, the Pittsburgh pass rusher earned a First-Team All-Pro selection last year in addition to finishing with the most sacks in the entire AFC.
Ahead of Watt on the latest NFL Top 100 list are guys like Cameron Jordan (23), Khalil Mack (19), Nick Bosa (17), Chandler Jones (15), and Bobby Wagner (13).
Did some of these defensive players deserve to be ranked ahead of Watt? There’s an argument for a few, so maybe?
But convincing someone that Watt should be higher on the list than at least two of the five guys listed above doesn’t seem like something that would be too difficult to accomplish.