The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading into a season with more questions than they’ve had in years. Aaron Rodgers is back under center. Mike McCarthy is the new head coach after Mike Tomlin’s departure. And now one of the team’s longtime defensive anchors might not be the same game-wrecker he used to be.
Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo dropped that assessment on 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show this week, and it’s worth paying attention to. He argued that T.J. Watt, who missed time last season with a scary collapsed lung, has slipped enough that teams won’t game-plan around him the way they once did.
“I don’t think he’s gonna get the Myles Garrett treatment anymore,” Fittipaldo said, per Ross McCorkle of Steelers Depot. “Before you could have called it the T.J. Watt treatment, but I think we’re maybe beyond that a little bit with T.J. He’s into his early 30s now. The production just hasn’t been there.”
That’s a tough pill for Steelers fans to swallow. Watt has been the face of that defense for years, winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 and racking up sack totals that put him in the conversation with the league’s best. But the numbers have dipped recently. He’s still a good player. But good isn’t the same as dominant.
Age and injuries are catching up
Watt turns 32 in October, and football is a young man’s game at that position. Edge rushers who rely on explosion and bend don’t always age gracefully. Watt’s injury history is also getting longer. The collapsed lung was scary, but it’s just the latest in a string of issues that have cost him games over the last few years.
Fittipaldo didn’t sugarcoat it. He pointed out that Watt’s ability to win one-on-one battles against tackles isn’t what it was a couple of seasons ago. That’s the kind of edge that separates elite pass rushers from everyone else. When it goes, the production follows.
“I just think it’s his evolution,” Fittipaldo said. “I think T.J’s gonna find different ways to impact games, but in terms of being that guy that these coordinators are constantly worried about, yeah, they’re still gonna worry about him, but I just don’t think it’s what it was a few years ago.”
That’s a subtle but important distinction. Watt can still be a problem for opposing offenses. But he’s not a guy who warps the entire game plan the way Myles Garrett did before the Browns traded him to the Rams. Cleveland got a haul for Garrett — multiple first-round picks and then some. Watt almost certainly wouldn’t command that kind of return right now, which could make him more expendable than most people realize.
What this means for Pittsburgh
The Steelers aren’t in full rebuild mode, but they’re not exactly contenders either. They’ve got a new coaching staff, a 42-year-old quarterback, and a defense that’s losing its identity. If Watt’s production continues to slide, the franchise might have a tough decision to make sooner than later.
For now, the Steelers are expected to open the season in early September with Watt still in the middle of that defense. But this is the first time in a while that his future in Pittsburgh feels like a real conversation, not just offseason noise.
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