The Houston Texans have two players on CBS Sports’ recent NFL top 100 players list.
The list, compiled by Pete Prisco, has defensive end J.J. Watt as the highest-ranked Texans player at No. 32 overall.
It’s a little strange to see him this low on the list, but he is coming off a season where he played just eight games because of injury and had just four sacks. This will be his 10th season in the league, but he’s played 16 games just once since 2015. Can he stay healthy?
Watt has been low in similar rankings three of the past four seasons as he has had to recover from an injury in every offseason except 2019. In 2018, Watt played a full 16-game season and turned in an All-Pro campaign with 16.0 sacks and seven forced fumbles.
Deshaun Watson placed No. 62 on Prisco’s list, and part of it was because of Watson’s touchdown-interception ratio.
You wonder what he’d be like with more help in terms of an offensive line. He threw 26 touchdown passes and 12 picks last season, which isn’t great.
What was not included in the caption for Watson was his seven rushing touchdowns, tied with Lamar Jackson for the second-most in the NFL among quarterbacks. Only Josh Allen had more rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with nine.
The Texans almost landed another player on the list in inside linebacker Zach Cunningham. The former 2017 second-round pick from Vanderbilt collected 142 tackles in 2019 along with seven tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, two pass breakups, and two fumble recoveries. Like with Prisco’s list, Cunningham was just on the outside of making the Pro Bowl as the furthest he got in the selection process was an alternate.
Houston would have had three players outright if receiver DeAndre Hopkins were still on the team. The new Arizona Cardinals wideout placed No. 31 in the rankings.
