This week's Classic Jurassic Meat-Eater Matchup takes a slight turn as we take a gander at the battle that will surely rage when a young buck earning his spurs in his first year of professional football meets the one-man "Manimal" wrecking crew in his home lair of Acrisure Stadium.
In other words, T.J. Watt will welcome Arizona Cardinals rookie offensive tackle, Paris Johnson Jr., all 6-foot-6, 313 pounds of him, on his home turf. Anyone feeling hungry?
Straight outta Ohio State, the first-round draft pick (6th overall) of the Cardinals is huge, mobile and capable of giving lesser mortals a dirt nap.
As I watch him on film, he's got a touch of the "I'm gonna kick your butt," attitude. In this day and age of sanitized ball, it's a refreshing throwback to an old-school way of thinking and playing.
He's strong, has excellent feet and is very athletic for one so huge. He can lock up and do-si-do with other meat-eaters. And yet he's fully capable of tracking down second-level run-through linebackers or even get out on a screen pass and chase a smaller CB. While he's at it, he will block to the whistle, even if that means going after his man after he's driven him out of bounds on his opponents' own sideline.
He's a got a "black heart and a thick face," as we used to say, and that translates to, "Ask no quarter, give no quarter."
A thick face is a mindset. It's mental and emotional armor that allows you to operate from a place where nothing can touch you. You are immune to any criticism, face-melts or intimidation tactics, and it comes through when you watch Johnson play.
When it comes to pass pro, he's no slacker there either. He uses a good step-slide with excellent balance, coupled with a short set on a wide rusher.
Using independent hands to strike or catch, his stand-up, close-quarter grappling game is strong, and it will be problematic for Watt to crack the code.
Unless, as he does at times, Johnson starts to carry his hands low. He also oversets to the outside occasionally. This is where T.J. does some of his best work.
Watt has extraordinary trapping (hand skills in knocking down opponent's hands) technique. I've watched him numerous times working on his specific hand techniques during practice, and in the pre-period prior to the real pregame warmup on game day to enable him to counter any of the punching/grabbing techniques he encounters from opponents along the way. And in doing so, he can trim unnecessary steps from running the arc on up-the-field rushes.
The one caveat I'm anxious to see play out is the noise level at Acrisure Stadium. To a defensive player, when his opponent is operating on the silent count, the reactive ability of the defense is always greater than the offense due to their being trained all their football career to react to sight (the snapping of the ball), versus listening to a snap count. I hope Acrisure comes alive with a wall of sound that can mean a two-step advantage for Watt in reaction time. A one- or two-step advantage coming out of the starting gate is huge.
Think about it. When T.J. plays on the road, his sack total is 30.5. Playing at home, T.J. has 60.5 sacks.
For the Steelers to be able to contain Cardinals QB Kyler Murray, with his penchant to seek open ground, one of the keys is getting after Murray and denying him the ability to get outside the pocket. Contain Murray, keep him inside the "well" of oncoming pass rushers (with hands raised up) and, with his lack of height, make it challenging for him to see down the field.
All of that will keep him from using his terrific athleticism and scrambling abilities to max usage.
When you're going big-game hunting and seeking the most elusive of prey, the best way to counter that elusive prey is to let loose the unrelenting apex predator that can hunt him down. Again and again and again.
That's what Defensive Player of the Year candidates, do.
And that's what T.J. Watt can do.
