Sports Illustrated States Texans Have 2nd Best Player In the NFL

Sports Illustrated just came out with a massive release of the 400 best NFL players. The Houston Texans were well-represented with 11 names.

Of course the conversations centered around who would be #1. Naturally in every list like this, people know what’s coming. Like the MVP award, it basically boils down to whomever is the best quarterback. This was no different as Tom Brady came away with the honor. Again, no surprise given the 39-year old just won his fifth Super Bowl title after throwing just two interceptions in the regular season. The man is at least the greatest of his era and maybe all-time.

The big surprise was what came after as there wasn’t another quarterback in the top five. Le’Veon Bell took the 5th spot while linebackers Luke Kuechly and Von Miller went #4 and #3 respectively So who was the man who narrowly missed out on claiming the title of the best player in the NFL today? Houston fans can probably take a guess.

Andy Benoit tagged defensive end J.J. Watt with the honor. His reasoning? Hard to argue with.

"“I once heard someone who has been around the game for nearly four decades say: ‘J.J. Watt is better than Lawrence Taylor. He just is.’ Which means there are legitimate people prepared to discuss Watt as the greatest defensive player ever. If he is 100% healthy (and whispers are that he is), his run of dominance is far from over.”"

J.J. Watt isn’t even 30 and may already be first ballot Hall of Fame

There has been no more dominant force on the defensive side of the ball for the past half decade than Watt. Nothing is a greater testament to that than the fact he finished #2 despite missing most of 2016 with a back injury. That is a boatload of credibility built up in such a short time. Watt is the only player in history with 20+ sacks in two different seasons and only player to win three Defensive Player of the Year award.

The saying goes that a Hall of Famer is somebody where you can’t go through a certain era of football without mentioning their name. Watt is already the quintessential defender of the 2010s and the decade isn’t even over yet. If he has indeed recovered from his back problems, then there’s reason to think his run can stretch on for another 3-4 years at least. All things considered people may be watching one of the best to ever lace ’em up.