After putting on a clinic through the first two weeks, Joe Alt has his toughest matchup yet against the Steelers’ T.J. Watt.
Joe Alt’s NFL career started off on a high note in Week One when he completely shutdown his one-on-one matchups with All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby. He allowed zero pressures in 11 individual snaps, effectively neutralizing one of game’s best.
In Week Two against the Panthers, Alt went up against former first-overall pick Jadeveon Clowney. By the end of the day, Alt gave Clowney the lowest overall game grade by Pro Football Focus of his decade-long career. He allowed one sack that game, but it was arguably more of Herbert’s fault for stepping into it than a black-and-white loss by Alt.
Either way you want to put it, Alt was the NFL’s highest-graded tackle in all of Week Two, rookie or veteran. That performance helped him land amongst CBS Sports’ top-5 rookie performances over the past weekend.
“Alt does a really good job playing with balance and sealing run lanes,” says analyst Josh Edwards. “He is always calm and in control working through his pass arc. When Los Angeles asked him to work to the second level, he was comfortable doing that as well.”
Through two weeks, per PFF, Alt has an overall season grade of 78.5. His pass block grade sits at 79.1 while his run block is a 74.6. The overall grade Alt as the 11th-highest graded tackle on the season while his pass block and run block grades rank 14th and 21st, respectively. He also has zero penalties and just two pressures allowed to his name.
You might be wondering how those numbers above average out to a number higher than both of them and I’m here to tell you take it with a grain of salt, as you should with all PFF grades. The method to their madness can look wonky at times.
Joe Alt just handed Jadeveon Clowney the worst game grade (30.5) of his 11-year NFL career. pic.twitter.com/dynw7t5NDo
— Tyler Schoon (@tylerjschoon) September 17, 2024
Next up for Alt is a matchup with another All-Pro player in T.J. Watt. Watt is the better player between him and Crosby, so I’d honestly go as far as to say that this is the toughest challenge left on the schedule outside of potential snaps against Myles Garrett of the Browns.
If Alt can manage another gutsy performance against Watt this weekend, expect to see him rocket up other rookie rankings from around the media.