The youngest addition to the Steelers' defense this season has been their first round draft pick and starting outside linebacker, T.J. Watt.
Watt has started the season with four sacks, four passes defensed and an interception to go along with his 28 tackles. While the Steelers' defense is in the middle of its youth movement, defensive coordinator Keith Butler has made it a point to use Watt in various ways to attack quarterbacks and complicate his defense's coverage schemes.
We take a look at how far Watt has come in his first eight NFL games:
When I reviewed Watt's film from his NCAA career as an outside linebacker at Wisconsin, I noted his ability to win battles as a pass rusher despite only having one full season as a starter for Wisconsin at that position.
Watt relied on his athleticism to win against opponents instead of using solid techniques and a variety of pass rush moves. Take, for example, how he just used a bull rush in the play below:
Notice how Watt just attacked straight ahead and drove his man into the quarterback. Plenty of his success in college didn't require a solid repertoire of pass rush moves because of how much more explosive he was than his opponents. This was my biggest criticism of him as a potential pass rusher in the Steelers' 3-4 defense.
When I watched Watt in the Steelers' training camp I saw that criticism come to life as he faced off against the team's offense. When Watt would try to win on his pure explosiveness or athletic ability, he was often stopped by players such as Xavier Grimble, who didn't have to do much to stop Watt other than play his spot and employ basic fundamentals.
One time in particular, I saw James Harrison pull Watt to the side after the rookie got into a scuffle with Grimble. While I couldn't hear anything Harrison said, I saw Watt work a pass rush move into his attack on the very next opportunity he got in the drill.
Now we're seeing Watt start to incorporate pass rush moves more regularly into his plan. This was evident in the team's first game when he recorded two sacks and an interception against the Browns.
Notice how deep Watt attacked, but he then used his inside hand to shove off Joe Thomas, and attacked Thomas' inside shoulder in order to get a faster route to sacking DeShone Kizer:
Watt has done a solid job to incorporate that spin move, as well as other pass rush moves, into his skill set despite only limited experience at the position. If anything, that shows the amount of work Joey Porter and the linebacker crew has invested into Watt's development.
Here's an example of him incorporating an inside move in order to force Andy Dalton to throw away a pass well before he could ever set his feet in the pocket and look down the field:
These are the one-on-one matchups Butler looks for his pass rushers to win. As Watt learns how to improve his moves and develop other skills, the Steelers can put more faith in his responsibilities in the defense. Watt's edge responsibilities are a key piece to how the Steelers stop the run and contain or rush the passer.
What Harrison learned to do so well over the years was to incorporate his pass rush techniques along with his responsibilities so that he can be both aggressive and responsible in the defense.
Here's an example of when Watt used his spin move to rush Matthew Stafford, but gave up his role in the defensive scheme. Watt executed a spin move that got him the edge on Brian Mihalik, but in doing so took himself out of the play, allowing Stafford to scramble for a first down:
When moves like that are made, if a sack isn't the result, Stafford has to be contained in the pocket, unable to extend the play. It's one of those risks a defensive coordinator takes by placing his faith in the talent on the edge. What should be encouraging is how Watt has risen to earn that faith as a rookie. His quick progression has made him a multifaceted piece for the Steelers.
Watt's athletic talent allows for him to cover wide patches of space both in gap assignment against the run and in coverage against the pass. Watch how he took away a cutback lane for Joe Mixon of the Bengals on an inside zone run scheme, the very type of play that has burned the Steelers in both their losses against the Bears and Jaguars.
Watt started by using a quick stutter step that allowed him to cross the face of the left tackle, Andre Smith, and close the gap between him and Vince Williams:
Watt knew he had Sean Davis behind him to maintain the edge, so he could aggressively pursue the inside gap. The Bengals relied on their tight end and left guard to be able to force the Steelers' defense more to the inside, while their left tackle, Smith, was supposed to keep Watt from being able to close down the hole.
That's a big play in a small moment that helped the Steelers' defense win an early down and force more difficult down and distance situations for their opponents.
Those moments also come against the pass in how Butler likes being able to drop his linebackers back from spots that typically make a quarterback think they will blitz, instead occupying passing lanes and forcing more difficult underneath passes.
Watt did just that on a second-and-5 situation by starting on the edge, waiting for just a second, then flying back to help in zone coverage against TJ Jones.
Jones ran a simple curl pattern underneath Artie Burns for what should be a routine conversion for a first down. But because Watt dropped back to occupy the space underneath the route, Stafford forced his pass high and away from Jones:
It also helped that Javon Hargrave ran right through the middle of the Lions' offensive line to force Stafford's hand. But this is when chemistry in the Steelers' defense works.
They rushed three players and the one blitzing lineman who wasn't double-teamed beat his man to force the quarterback's hand, while the Steelers' linebackers occupied a key passing lane to force an incomplete pass.
As Watt continues to learn and grow in his rookie season, the Steelers can add even more to their scheme and place more faith in him to win the one-on-one matchups. At 23, Watt has shown a very solid floor to grow from in his first half of a season in the NFL.
Look for moments like these as the Steelers work in the second half of the season. Whether Watt contains the edge, rushes the quarterback or drops into coverage, he'll have plenty of opportunities to make plays for the Steelers and potentially improve a defense that's already ranked fifth in yards per game allowed and second in points per game.
