Linebacker T.J. Watt has been ranked No. 11 in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2025, as voted by current NFL players. This marks a slight drop from his No. 8 ranking in 2024 but an improvement over his No. 27 spot in 2023.
Watt was recognized by his teammates as the Steelers’ Most Valuable Player for the 2024 season, making him the first player in team history to win this award five times (2019-21, 23-24). In addition to this honor, he was named second team AP All-Pro and All-NFL by the Pro Football Writers of America. He was also selected as a starter for the Pro Bowl Games but did not participate due to injury.
During the 2024 regular season, Watt started all 17 games and recorded 61 tackles, including 40 solo stops. His performance included 11.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, 27 quarterback hits, six forced fumbles, four passes defensed, three strip sacks, and two fumble recoveries.
He stood out as the only player in the league to rank among the top six in multiple defensive categories: tied for first in strip sacks, first in forced fumbles, sixth in quarterback hits, tied for seventh in fumble recoveries, eighth in sacks, and second in tackles for loss during the season.
Watt earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against the New York Giants during a Week 8 victory. In that game he registered seven tackles and two sacks—including a critical strip-sack that he recovered late after a Steelers turnover while the Giants were advancing.
This recognition marked Watt’s eighth career Player of the Week award; previous wins came during Weeks 1 and 5 of 2018; Week 2 of 2020; Weeks 6, 13 and 17 of 2021; and Week 18 of 2023.
Joining Watt on this year’s NFL Top 100 list are linebacker Patrick Queen at No.75 and defensive tackle Cameron Heyward at No.83.
The NFL Top 100 is produced by NFL Films as part of an X Originals series—a digital version designed to highlight players through short episodes released on X (formerly Twitter) and NFL+. The series features commentary from fellow players along with exclusive footage and will continue releasing new rankings leading up to September’s start of the NFL season.
