The Steelers have employed some great pass rushers in their history.
From L.C. Greenwood to James Harrison and everyone in between, the Steelers always seem to have at least one, and often two, players who can get to the quarterback with regularity.
But T.J. Watt is the best of them. And it's only taken him five seasons to claim that mantle.
With 9 more sacks in 2022, Watt will make that official when he moves past Harrison for the franchise lead. And considering Watt has been well above that number in each of the past four seasons after recording seven sacks as a rookie, that is a given.
Even Harrison knows it's coming.
Harrison played with Watt in 2017, so he could see the future. And like Watt breaking his single-season team record last season, when he tied the NFL record with 22.5 sacks, Harrison remains supportive.
🔥🔥 #RP @steelers: A message from @jharrison9292 to @_TJWatt #HereWeGo #Steelers pic.twitter.com/G66JTiMcHt
— James Harrison (@jharrison9292) December 19, 2021
What we're seeing from Watt is something that is great in team history, but NFL history, as well.
Watt has 72 sacks in 77 career games. Of players with at least 10 sacks in their career, his .94 sacks per game is the highest percentage in NFL history.
Myles Garrett, often compared to Watt when it comes to edge rushers since they were selected in the same 2017 NFL Draft, is second on that list at .86, slightly ahead of Reggie White's .85, which used to be the gold standard for pass rushers.
Now, this is not to suggest Watt or Garrett are better than White. He's an all-time great and is second on the all-time sack list with 198, two behind Bruce Smith's record of 200.
Those are lofty numbers to be sure.
But what's even more impressive for Watt is his Hall of Fame Monitor ranking.
Introduced a few years ago by Pro Football Reference, the Hall of Fame Monitor measures a player's performance against other players in history and allows for comparisons to be made by position.
The Hall of Fame Monitor is even used when voters are selecting members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Watt's Hall of Fame Monitor score is 53.40. That already puts him just ahead of Bill Romanowski (52.73) and behind Clay Matthews (53.50). Romanowski was a primary starter -- something measured on the site -- 13 years, while Matthews was a starter in 16 seasons.
Watt has been a starter for five seasons.
The average Hall of Fame outside linebacker has a score of 106. Watt is obviously already halfway there -- in five seasons.
By comparison, Garrett, the No. 1 pick in 2017 when Watt was selected 30th, has a score of 32.65.
Garrett has been very good thus far in his career. Watt has been better.
In fact, if you're looking for a true comparison to what Watt has done in his first five seasons, the only players on the same level are Tyreek Hill, who has a score of 60.55 in five seasons, and Patrick Mahomes with a score of 59.58 in four seasons.
That shows just how special Watt has been.
The question then becomes, can he keep it up and for how long.
At 27 -- Watt doesn't turn 28 until Oct. 11 -- he's still in his prime.
For that, we can compare Watt's career trajectory to that of Lawrence Taylor, the highest-scoring outside linebacker in history according to the Monitor with a ridiculous score of 222.55.
Taylor had his most productive sack season at 27, posting a career-high 20.5. Over the next four seasons, he added 53 sacks in 54 games on his way to 142 career sacks.
Again, that's not to compare Watt to Taylor, perhaps the greatest defensive player of all-time. But he's keeping that kind of company.
Watt still has some work to do to secure his spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But he's certainly on course to get there.
