T.J. Watt's Fast Start Backed by Numbers and New Steelers Scheme
The short version
- T.J. Watt has 3.5 sacks and one touchdown through two weeks, second in the NFL behind Greg Rousseau.
- ESPN's Brooke Pryor labeled Watt's start as real, citing coordinator Patrick Graham's rotation and varied alignments.
- Watt leads all edge defenders with a 91.3 PFF grade, including a 18.4% pressure rate on 38 pass-rush snaps.
- He has three run stops on 30 run-defense snaps with no negatively graded plays, per PFF.
ESPN's Brooke Pryor calls Watt's 3.5-sack opening to the season legitimate, crediting snap management and varied alignments under Patrick Graham.
Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt has opened the 2026 season with 3.5 sacks and a touchdown, and ESPN reporter Brooke Pryor considers the start genuine rather than a short-lived spike. Pryor highlighted Watt among the league's early surprises after two weeks of play.
Pryor ties the turnaround to first-year defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Under the new approach, Watt is being rotated more deliberately, taking fewer snaps, and lining up at multiple spots along the front — a plan Watt embraced heading into the season.
The reduced workload plus the shifting alignments have kept Watt fresher and made it harder for opposing play-callers to predict where he will rush from. Pryor wrote that a rested, unpredictable Watt is a major problem for offensive coordinators.
The supporting data backs up the assessment. Watt's sack total trails only Buffalo's Greg Rousseau league-wide, and his 91.3 Pro Football Focus grade sits first among all edge defenders. On 38 pass-rush snaps he has four sacks and seven pressures, an 18.4% pressure rate, while being double-teamed on 42.1% of those opportunities.
Watt has also held up against the run, notching three stops on 30 run-defense snaps without a single negatively graded play in that phase, per PFF. After two down seasons by his standards, both the film and the metrics point to Watt operating at his former All-Pro level.
