Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt. (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

NFL futures: The case for T.J. Watt winning Defensive Player of the Year

By Griffin Carroll | Last updated 8/8/23

T.J. Watt is undeniably one of the most talented defensive players in the NFL, and his placement near the top of the Defensive Player of the Year board is testament to just that. When considering the options for the 2023 winner, one has to like Watt's chances should he stay healthy.

T.J. Watt: +800 to win DPOY (FanDuel)

Watt brought home this award win in 2021 thanks to an absurd 22.5-sack season, tied for the most ever in an NFL regular season. Watt hit that 22.5 number despite missing two games, and was the culmination of seasons that finished with 13.0, 14.5 and 15.0 sacks.

Watt dealt with injuries in 2022, missing seven games and parts of others, resulting in just 5.5 sacks. Watt deserves our trust in that last year was an outlier as he dealt with a mixed bag of injuries impacting his effectiveness on the field.

The Steelers star is on record saying that he's going about his offseason training differently this year in an effort to be available, and it's worth noting that missing games was not something Watt dealt with in his first five seasons.

Assuming Watt regains his 2021 form, why wouldn't we consider him for a DPOY award? Voters have shown no signs of fatigue in this market, perhaps more than any of the other individual NFL awards. Aaron Donald won three DPOY awards from 2017-2020. JJ Watt took home three of his own between 2012-2015. That shows me a focus and respect for dominance, and if Watt sniffs 20 sacks again, it'll be hard to hand this award to anyone else.

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