Linebacker T.J. Watt is the winner of the Deacon Jones Award, presented to the player who leads the NFL in sacks.
Watt, who was selected first-team Associated Press All-Pro, elected to his second Pro Bowl and won the Steelers MVP award, led the NFL in sacks with a career-high 15, quarterback hits with 41 and tackles for a loss with 23, while adding 53 tackles, 43 of them solo stops, seven pass defenses, two forced fumbles and an interception.
"He was incredible," said older brother J.J. Watt. "He led the league in sacks. He led the league in tackles for a loss. He led the league in quarterback hits. He can drop back in coverage and can help his team that way. He is just a truly disruptive player who makes game-changing plays for his team and has done an incredible job."
Watt, the team's No. 1 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, is the first player in Steelers history with 14 plus sacks in multiple seasons, doing so in 2019 and 2020.
Watt was solid all season, being named AFC Defensive Player of the Month twice, in September and November.
He started off the season strong, picking up from where he left off in 2019 when he won the Steelers team MVP honor.
He was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his Week 2 performance against the Denver Broncos. Watt had 2.5 sacks for a loss of 20 yards, four quarterback hits and four tackles. All of the sacks were against Jeff Driskel, who came in after Drew Lock left the game injured.
He was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September after dominating opposing offenses in three straight games. Watt had three and a half sacks, 10 quarterback hits, nine tackles, three tackles for a loss, two pass defenses and an interception for the month.
Watt was also named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for November, which included games in Weeks 8-12, a stretch where the Steelers went 5-0, including three AFC North wins, two over the Baltimore Ravens and one over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Watt had 19 tackles, including 13 solo stops, five and a half sacks, 17 quarterback hits, and three pass defenses in November. He had two games with multiple sacks during the five-game stretch, including the Bengals and Ravens (Week 12) games when he had two each.
