3 reasons why T.J. Watt is the rightful Defensive Player of the Year in 2020
By Tommy Jaggi
Watt can’t be taken out of the game
One of the qualities that make T.J. Watt one of the best players in the National Football League is that he cannot be taken out of the game. Whether he is doubled or running free at the quarterback, Watt is going to find a way to prevail, and he has done exactly that over the past two seasons.
Even in games where the box score might indicate that Watt didn’t have a big impact, nothing could be further from the truth. Against the Giants in Week 1, for example, Watt may have only recorded one tackle and zero sacks, but he was getting an immense amount of pressure throughout the game. He even had a strip-sack that was incorrectly called an incomplete pass on the field, and he didn’t get credited with anything more than a pressure and a QB hit on the play.
Most of the time, however, Watt is showing up on the stat sheet as well as the film. The star defender has recorded between 0.5-2.5 sacks in 9 of 13 games he has played in 2020, and there are zero reasons to suggest that this won’t continue as we approach the playoffs. Watt’s ability to be an X-Factor in every single game set him apart from almost any other defender in the league.