Houston Texans: Whitney Mercilus becoming a star pass rusher

While most of the attention for the Houston Texans is on J.J. Watt, don’t sleep on Whitney Mercilus, who is becoming a star in his own right…

The Houston Texans have an enviable defensive front seven, even more so now that former first round pick Whitney Mercilus has emerged into one of the league’s premiere pass rushers.

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Over the course of the last 17 games, Mercilus has 14 sacks and he’s done it in just 10 starts. Now a full-time player, Mercilus has a chance to prove his worth as one of the best values in the NFL at the edge position and he’s off to a great start as the AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

Mercilus had a pair of sacks, a forced fumble, a couple of quarterback hits, and four total tackles for the Texans in their week one victory over the Chicago Bears, showing a great combination of speed and instincts from his edge position.

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He has always been a solid rotational rusher, but as a first round pick, the expectations were that he could contribute double-digits sacks every season, or at least close to it. The Texans are finally seeing the fruit of their original investment and their recent vote of confidence.

Mercilus was given a four-year, $26 million extension prior to last season, and showed out with 12 sacks. He’s off to a phenomenal start this year, and the Texans’ staff is finding ways to get him in one-on-one situations to maximize his snaps.

This is a luxury that most other NFL teams don’t have, because Houston starts off with the reigning defensive MVP in J.J. Watt at left defensive end. On Mercilus’ strip-sack of Jay Cutler, Watt is lined up off the left tackle while every other offensive lineman is occupied, giving the talented edge player a shot at Cutler’s blind-side in a one-on-one battle with Chicago’s left tackle.

Mercilus combines excellent speed and hand usage with deceptively good power to close on Cutler and punch the football out, and it should have been picked up and returned for a score.

The Texans’ pass rushing trio of Watt, Mercilus, and Jadeveon Clowney is the envy of every NFL team save for the Denver Broncos. That trio gives the Texans endless options for alignments up front, and they proved that in the first game with Mercilus racking up two sacks and Clowney notching his first sack of the season.

This unit is going to be absolutely key for the Texans as they pursue the AFC South crown. With Mercilus’ development, J.J. Watt won’t see as many double teams and if he does, the Texans have a player who will feast on the opportunity to get a tackle one-on-one.

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