Getty The Pittsburgh Steelers had two players named to the AP All-Pro First Team
The Pittsburgh Steelers had two players named to the Associated Press All-Pro First Team this season.
TJ Watt and Miles Killebrew both earned spots on the team for the 2023 NFL season.
Getting a pair of players on the All-Pro team shouldn’t come as much of a surprise after an impressive season in Pittsburgh.
The team finished with a 10-7 record and made the playoffs despite playing in the only division in football where every team finished above .500.
That record included eight wins against opponents with winning records.
With the team’s struggles at quarterback, they needed a lot of players to step up elsewhere on the roster in order to achieve that success.
Now two of those players that stepped up have earned First Team honors thanks to their contributions to the Steelers’ success in 2023.
Watt earned his fourth First Team nod, while Killebrew was selected for the team for the first time in his career.
Killebrew Suddenly Racking Up Accolades In His 8th Season
Usually when a player in the NFL reaches 30 years old, fans start talking about when we’re going see their career begin to decline.
That is certainly not the case for Killebrew. The Steelers special teamer turned 30 back in May, but played the best football of his career in 2023.
While special teams is often the overlooked unit on a football team, Killebrew’s impact for the Steelers simply can’t be looked past.
Killebrew blocked a pair of punts during the 2023 season. The first led to a safety in a 17-10 win over the Ravens in Week 5. The safety helped spark the Steelers as it was the beginning of 14 unanswered points for the team during a fourth quarter comeback.
His second also came with the Steelers trailing and looking for a spark. In Week 14, he blocked a punt against the Patriots in the fourth quarter while the Steelers trailed 21-10.
The block set Pittsburgh up at the Pats’ 26-yard line. They scored and got the two-point conversion to cut the lead to three.
As a result of his 2023 performance, Killebrew has now earned the first Pro Bowl nod of his career along with this spot on the All-Pro First Team.
Could Watt Win Defensive Player Of The Year?
The dominance of Watt is nothing new to NFL fans.
Heading into the 2023 season, he had already won a Defensive Player of the Year, been an All-Pro First teamer three times, been to five Pro Bowls, and led the league in sacks twice.
This season, he put on a show again. The star edge rusher once again led the league in sacks, getting to the quarterback 19 times.
He also forced 4 fumbles and even threw in an interception for good measure.
Still, it all might not be enough for him to win another DPOY.
In spite of another impressive season from Watt, he currently isn’t the betting favorite to win the award.
Now the voting details for the All-Pro team could indicate he’s facing an uphill battle.
His top competition for the award is Browns edge Myles Garrett.
Garrett got the other spot on the All-Pro First Team and he did so with eight more votes. The AP is also the entity that gives out the DPOY.
Garrett had a solid season of his own with 14 sacks and 4 forced fumbles, but it is surprising that Watt isn’t seen as a better candidate.
We may have gotten a hint in the All-Pro voting, but we’ll just have to wait and see how this AFC North battle turns out in the DPOY voting.