Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt was good enough to make NFL.com’s list of top players 30 years or older, but he wasn’t good enough to crack the top-10.
According to NFL.com’s Tom Blair, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year ranked No. 12 on their list.
Here’s an extremely relatable fact about Watt: Extensive time in quarantine had him thinking about The Before Times. Not as relatable: For Watt, The Before Times would be one of the best four-year stretches of defensive play in NFL history. Even less relatable: Watt said “the quarantine situation has given me literally nothing to do but work out every day.” Very cool and well-adjusted of him. I guess he hasn’t heard of such activities as trying to drown one’s existential dread in junk food and bad TV. If quarantine really did help Watt, who has missed 32 starts over the past four seasons (including eight with a torn pectoral in 2019) regain his 2014-15 form as he suggested, he’ll be poised to put a truly legendary stamp on the latter portion of his career. But even if he can’t hit those heights again, Watt will go down as one of the most dominant defenders ever.
The knock is his injury history over the past season and how that season fits into a tapestry of missed time since 2016.
However, the 2018 season gets glossed over. Watt, who had 2016 summarily ended three games in with a herniated disc and 2017 robbed five games in with a left tibial plateau fracture, returned for all 16 games and the subsequent wild-card playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts. It wasn’t as if Watt played 11 games with a couple missed games here and there. Watt manned his defensive end spot and added 16.0 sacks and seven forced fumbles en route to an All-Pro selection.
The pectoral tear was a freak accident. Even outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus, who missed a total of two games in his career, succumbed to a torn pectoral in 2017. However, he has played 35 games straight since, including three playoff games over that span.
If Watt is feeling like his 2014-15 self, then he should easily jump Calais Campbell, Von Miller, Cameron Jordan, Cameron Hayward, and Chandler Jones as the top defender on such lists.
