PITTSBURGH -- James Harrison is one of those rare athletes who has seemingly defeated Father Time.
He is a notorious workout fiend who spends thousands of dollars on massages and acupuncture in order to keep his body in top condition. He never looked like an aging player last season and could conceivably be productive for three or four more years. He's also 39, which means regardless of how much time, money and effort he puts into keeping his body in NFL shape, his career is winding down.
That's why the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted T.J. Watt in the first round and why Watt's development will be key to the Steelers defense this season. It's a lot of pressure to put on a rookie, but Harrison needs rest. He can't play as many snaps as he did last season. The Steelers need him to be fresh down the stretch and into the playoffs. He won't be fresh, though, if he plays 56 percent of the defensive snaps again.
Watt will play right outside linebacker and split time with Harrison. If Watt is good enough to play the majority of the snaps and even start, the defense will be much better. The pass rush will be stronger, and in the Steelers' scheme, a great pass rush trumps a mediocre secondary.
By all accounts, Watt is ahead of schedule. He impressed his coaches at OTAs and minicamp with his intelligence and work ethic, but that's football in T-shirts and shorts. It's easy to dismiss Watt's performance thus far as meaningless. Training camp isn't until the end of the month, and that's when men are separated from boys.
Mentally, Watt has been ahead of most rookies. He has already learned the defense and his role in it. Linebackers coach Joey Porter heaped a lot of praise on Watt and hinted Watt could be the starter come September.
"His learning curve is real good," Porter said. "With as many practices as we've had, I can count how many mistakes he's had on one hand. And that's rare."
Watt has had more reps with the starting team than most rookies. Harrison doesn't need the work, and the Steelers will do everything in their power to keep him off his feet until the season. That means Watt will also spend most of his time in training camp working with the first team.
It wouldn't be unprecedented for Watt to earn the starting job as a rookie. Jarvis Jones began his rookie year as a starter, as did Ryan Shazier. Bud Dupree didn't begin his rookie year as the starter but started the final five games. Those are the last three linebackers the Steelers drafted in the first round, and only Jones was a bust. Watt has the work ethic, intelligence and athleticism to become a great player.
The better Watt gets, the better the Steelers defense will get because fewer snaps for Harrison is better. The perfect scenario would be Watt giving the Steelers the luxury of using Harrison as a situational player in passing situations. That may be wishful thinking for a rookie. The first step is Watt earning the starting job, and judging from his early body of work he's well on his way to that.
Harrison won't likely be excited to hand his starting job to a rookie but he will be happy when his body is fresh and he can be a menace to opponents in the playoffs. That's why the Steelers are depending on Watt, who appears ready to deliver.
Sports on 06/26/2017