Houston Texans 5 Most Important Players of 2015

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Dec 21, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (99) reacts after making a sack during the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at NRG Stadium. The Texans defeated the Ravens 25-13. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

1. DE J.J. Watt

With all due respect to Aaron Rodgers, J.J. Watt is the most dominant player in the league right now, and he’s perhaps the most dominant player I’ve ever seen. The stuff he does every week is just insane, and I can’t even remember the last time Watt had a bad game. He’s a monster in the red zone whether on offense or defense, and he’s just impossible to block in the running game and passing game due to his motor, strength, quickness off the line, length, athleticism, closing speed, football IQ, and nearly every other trait you could throw out there.

20.5 sacks, 78 tackles, four fumbles forced, five fumble recoveries, and ten passes defended. That’s insane stuff, but it’s another year at the office for Watt, who terrorizes passers, makes plays in the running game, destroys double-teams, and frees up teammates by doing the dirty work. It’s almost a miracle that someone, the under-appreciated Fletcher Cox of the Philadelphia Eagles, at the 3-4 DE position tied his 39 defensive stops in the running game last year.

But nobody at the position came close to the number of pressures he recorded. Per PFF, he put pressure on the quarterback an insane 119 times, with Pittsburgh Steelers stud Cameron Heyward checking in at second with 54. The amount of distance in between them is insane, but it gets a little crazier.

Per PFF, the 72 hurries that Michael Bennett and Charles Johnson had last season were tops for 4-3 DEs, Justin Houston‘s seemingly remarkable 85 pressures led all 3-4 OLBs (you’d think they’d have the player with the most pressures), and elite 4-3 OLB Von Miller threw in 71 more.

So with 119 pressures, J.J. Watt was first in the league out of all positions (as a freaking five-tech 3-4 DE) by 34, which is the same number of pressures that San Francisco 49ers DE Justin Smith had during the entire 2014 season.

OK, I’m done gushing.

Next: This Is The Texans Best MVP Candidate

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