Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns and T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers have been vying for the AP Defensive Player of the Year title for years.
It had long appeared possible that the two rivals would finish one and two, and on Thursday night, that potential was realised.
Garrett became the first player from the Browns to win the title, defeating Watt by a score of 25 points. Even though Watt led the league in sacks for the third consecutive season in 2023 with 19 sacks, the 2021 winner came in second.
Former defensive end and three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, Watt’s brother, took to social media on Friday afternoon to defend his brother’s honour.
J.J. shared a chart on social media that showed how T.J. outperformed the Cleveland superstar in 11 important areas, all the while expressing his respect for Garrett.
“Myles is a phenomenal player, I’m a big fan and he’s had an incredible career so far,” said J.J. “I can acknowledge that while also wondering what more T.J. could have possibly done.”
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers have announced the addition of three coaches to its offensive staff, hiring Tom Arth, Zach Azzanni and Mateo Kambui.
Azzanni moves on to become the team’s new wide receivers coach, and Arth becomes their new quarterbacks coach. Kambui comes on board to help with offence.
In 2022, Arth began his NFL coaching career as a pass-game specialist for the Chargers. He was the head coach of Akron (2019–2021), Chattanooga (2017–2018), and John Carroll (2013–2016) before joining the NFL.
Azzanni has worked for the Jets, Chicago Bears (2018), and Denver Broncos (2018–2022) in the National Football League. In the NCAA, he coordinated passing games for Florida in 2010 and Tennessee in 2015–2016. Additionally, from 2007 to 2009, he served as Central Michigan’s associate head coach and as Western Kentucky’s offensive coordinator in 2011.
Originating from Atlanta, Kambui collaborated with Arthur Smith, the new offensive coordinator for the Steelers. In 2023, he served as the assistant offensive line coach with the Falcons. He played for the Denver Broncos as a member of the Marlin Briscoe Coaching Fellowship (2021–2022) before joining Atlanta. He assisted in wide receiver instruction and scouting.
