An Unwarranted Slight at Cam Heyward

By Michael Stiffler
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Updated: July 14, 2020

Yahoo Sports

By: Michael Stiffler, @Stiffeezy_ on Twitter
SteelerNation.com

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler recently put out an article ranking the top 10 interior offensive lineman in the NFL. They reached out to more than 50 league executives, coaches, scouts, and players to help compile the list. To no one’s surprise, the Indianapolis Colts’ guard Quenton Nelson ranked number 1, but here is where I have an issue:

“Ever since I saw Cam Heyward whoop up on him, I’ve never looked at him the same.” – An anonymous defensive coach stated.

WHAT?!

As you can see Nelson did struggle a bit, which is going to happen when it is only his second year in the league, but give Heyward some respect! This isn’t some “guy” making Nelson look bad. This is CAM FREAKING HEYWARD who has been in the league seven more years than Nelson. In addition, in the past three seasons, he has been a 2x All-Pro (2017, 2019) and a 3x Pro Bowler (2017-2019). If that isn’t enough to convince you, look at his stats the past three years compared to some of the top interior defensive lineman in the NFL.

Cam Heyward
Year	G	GS	Int	TD	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	TD	Sk	Comb	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits
2017*+	15	15	0	0	3	2	0	1	0	12	45	30	15	16	22
2018*	16	16	0	0	3	1	0	1	0	8	51	29	22	10	18
2019*+	16	16	0	0	6	1	0	1	0	9	83	51	32	11	23
Total	47	47	0	0	12	4	0	3	0	29	179	110	69	37	63

Aaron Donald
Year	G	GS	Int	TD	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	TD	Sk	Comb	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits
2017*+	14	14	0	0	1	5	0	1	0	11	41	32	9	15	27
2018*+	16	16	0	0	1	4	0	2	0	20.5	59	41	18	25	41
2019*+	16	16	0	0	2	2	0	1	0	12.5	48	29	19	20	24
Total	46	46	0	0	4	11	0	4	0	44	148	102	46	60	92

Fletcher Cox
Year	G	GS	Int	TD	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	TD	Sk	Comb	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits
2017*	14	14	0	0	2	1	0	2	1	5.5	26	15	11	5	17
2018*+	16	16	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	10.5	46	33	13	12	34
2019*	16	16	0	0	2	3	0	1	0	3.5	40	26	14	5	10
Total	46	46	0	0	5	5	0	4	1	19.5	112	74	38	22	61

Chris Jones
Year	G	GS	Int	TD	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	TD	Sk	Comb	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits
2017	16	7	1	0	7	4	0	0	0	6.5	32	22	10	5	13
2018	16	11	1	1	5	2	0	0	0	15.5	40	35	5	19	29
2019*	13	12	0	0	4	1	0	1	0	9	36	23	13	8	20
Total	45	30	2	1	16	7	0	1	0	31	108	80	28	32	62

JJ Watt
Year	G	GS	Int	TD	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	TD	Sk	Comb	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits
2017	5	5	0	0	2					0	15	11	4	3	5
2018*+	16	16	0	0	4	7	0	0	0	16	61	47	14	18	25
2019	8	8	0	0	3	1	0	2	0	4	24	15	9	4	21
Total	29	29	0	0	9	8	0	2	0	20	100	73	27	25	51

He is arguably the second best interior lineman in the league behind Aaron Donald (I do want to note I would take Heyward over all the others, the guy has been voted team captain since 2015, he is the heart and soul of this defense). I would just like more context and explanation to this quote because it just doesn’t add up! How does the coach truly feel about Heyward? Or was this quote placed out of context to stir the pot?

I think Heyward’s Twitter response on this matter put this best.

Man I’m not with that. So because I had a good game it devalues a great talent. Dude is heck of a talent. How about I’m a great player myself and we won the game simple as that. I know Q is a dog and I know it’s a 5 star match up when we line up.

— Cam Heyward (@CamHeyward) July 12, 2020

I love how Heyward gave credit where credit is due with Nelson, but also didn’t back down from the notion that he believes he is an elite player as well.

I have a lot more NSFW feelings on this matter and how whoever said this is a big stooge and needs to take a good hard look in the mirror, but instead I will leave Steeler Nation with some highlights of Cam Heyward doing Cam Heyward things.