Does JJ Watt have a shot at MVP? (1 Viewer)

[knuckleballah22]

The dude's been dominant so far leading one of the best defense's in the NFL. Through 5 games, he has 8.5 sacks (as a ####### 3-4 DE),10.5 TFL and 8 passes knocked down (10 is the record for a season). He's been doing everything for the Texans defense and everyone who watched tonight's game saw that. The amazing thing is that this is only his 2nd year and he will probably continue to get even better.

 

[Bigboy10182000]

No, none at all.

 

[gradin123]

He is great but with Cushing out he is going to have to be. I think the Texans Defense is going to have a hard time adjusting to Cushing being out and it makes their defense look a lot more vunerable all of a sudden. They almost made Sanchez look good last night. Almost.

Also, their schedule is getting tougher so the days of them relying upon running and defense primarily may be numberered.

 

[Kleck]

Easily my favorite for DPOY right now. Amazing player, and person.

 

[Buffaloes]

he doesn't play QB

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Absolute beast

 

[lbouchard]

He should be in convo but it's a QB's world nowadays.

 

[Dought Man]

He would need about 20 more sacks to get into the argument

 

[eaglesfan17]

Matt Ryan is the early candidate right now

 

[therush]

Absolutely.

To not only do his job of occupying not one, but two blockers on the line allowing the OLB rushers single coverage, while also impacting a game and preventing 15 points like he did Monday night, is unheard of. Its like having a Revis that shuts down half the field because you can't throw over him yet he also applies pressure to the QB leading to further turnovers, leads the league in sacks, and records a few TFL per game too while he shuts down one side of the running game!

 

[NJDawgPound]

ESPN's graphic on the screen last night: "DE JJ WATT"

And my wife goes "You mean someone actually named their son DeJJ?"

<-- her

 

[Assani Fisher]

I think hes been the best(and most valuable) player so far, but he'll be a long shot to actually win the award imo. From PFF:

week 1

One of last season’s most phenomenal rookies made a statement in Week 1 that he will not be suffering from a sophomore slump. After only two-and-a-half minutes J.J. Watt beat John Jerry for a quick pressure and he never looked back from that point. Largely kept quiet in the second half, with only one sack and a tackle for a loss that was nullified by a penalty, the former Wisconsin Badger did all of his work in the first. All he did was bat three passes (two of which led to interceptions), tip another pass that Anthony Fasano rescued from being turnover, force a hold from Jake Long and register another stop in the run game. Is this a statement of intent that Watt is going to elevate himself to the level of Justin Smith during his second season?

PFF Game Ball

There aren’t many defensive linemen that can turn a game single-handed without recording a sack, but it turns out J.J. Watt can. His three batted passes came within the space of four dropbacks toward the end of the second quarter, and produced two interceptions that turned the game in the Texans’ favor.

week 2

It’s only Week 2, and we’ve got an awful lot of football left to see, but you’ll struggle to find a better defensive player in the NFL right now than J.J. Watt (+8.8). Following up last week’s impressive performance against the Miami Dolphins, Watt was absolutely devastating on the rare occasions the Jags had possession of the ball. Registering two sacks, two hits, a hurry and two batted passes, he was too much for Guy Whimper (-3.7) and Uche Nwaneri (-1.6) to handle. To put those numbers into context, the Jaguars ran 26 pass plays in the game and Watt made an impact on seven of them. Against the run he was just as relentless, finishing the game with three defensive stops, and he topped the day off with a fumble recovery on the Jaguars’ final offensive play on 1st-and-10 with 5:15 left in the fourth quarter. A fitting end to a truly spectacular day.

J.J. Watt made a defensive stop in the run game on 36.4% of running plays he was in on, while picking up a pressure or batted pass on 31.8% of passing plays he was on the field for.

PFF Game Ball

As easy a decision as we’re likely to have all year here at PFF. J.J. Watt took over the game and dominated from the first snap to the last.

week 3

The year’s most dominant defensive player turned in another brilliant performance, as J.J. Watt (+5.5) once again made plays all over the field in Denver. After beating Broncos right guard Manuel Ramirez for three sacks to bring his season total to six, Watt now boasts a ridiculous +15.7 pass rush grade after three games this season. He added three more hurries, as well as excellent play against the run, notching four stops in the process. His first-step quickness was too much for Ramirez and he was able to knife into the backfield with little resistance.

The good news for Ramirez is Sunday was Watt’s worst performance of the young season. He’s the early favorite for Defensive Player of the Year honors, and you may be sick of hearing us sing his praises, but he is worth every ounce of hype thus far.

week 4

While Leroy Harris (+0.2) may be right in his claim that he shut J.J. Watt (+5.3) down with the exception of the two sacks he allowed – itself a bizarre claim to hang your hat on – that doesn’t mean the Texans’ defensive end had a quiet game. As a pass rusher he added a hurry against left guard Steve Hutchinson (-2.5) to those two sacks picked up against Harris. Against the run, he added two defensive stops on his two solo tackles to give him a Run Stop Percentage of 11.8% on his 17 plays against the run. He’s been almost unblockable for opposing offensive linemen so far this season, with his lowest graded game coming last week in a game where he recorded three sacks. It won’t be easy to maintain this level throughout the year, but if he can it has the makings of a truly remarkable season.

PFF Game Ball

Despite a great performance from left tackle Duane Brown, J.J. Watt was just too hard to ignore yet again. Collecting PFF Game Ball’s almost as often as he’s generating pressure, he’s been the league’s best player so far this season.

week 5

Conventional wisdom is that second year players tend to suffer some struggles in their second season. Their opponents have “pro” tape on them and their divisional opponents have some experience of how to “deal” with them and their strongest plays. Well this week J.J. Watt (+6.7) again put in a performance to say that he doesn’t buy into that theory. After only five games this season Watt has already surpassed his rookie season grade (+32.3, including two playoff games) and is on course to record in excess of 25 sacks. Now we’re not saying that he’s going to maintain this pace, that would seem entirely unlikely, but his level of play to start the season is little short of astonishing. He is recording a stop on nearly one in five of the run plays that he is on the field for and he is recording pressure on one in seven pass rush snaps. Combine that with his freakish streak of pass disruptions (more on that later) and you have the most complete defensive player in the league at present. No surprise at all that Sam Monson declared him his AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September.

After only five games Watt has already doubled his season total for batted pass from last season, his three this week gives him eight so far this season. This also marks the third time in Watt’s last nine games that he has batted three passes in a single game. Is this a new trend or just a purple patch? Watt didn’t get the first of his career until Week 12 last season.

PFF Game Ball

At his current pace J.J. Watt is headed for a simply obscene regular season grade in excess of the 100 mark. The level of play from Justin Smith was a sight to see in recent seasons but Watt is even putting some of those displays in the shade. How much longer can he keep up this astounding level of play

 

[dollarbill13]

ESPN's graphic on the screen last night: "DE JJ WATT"And my wife goes "You mean someone actually named their son DeJJ?" <-- her

I lol'd

 

[Tau837]

Long answer: the stars would have to align in a way that is extremely unlikely... like this:

1. Texans go undefeated.

2. Texans defense finishes #1 in points allowed and #1 in yards allowed.

3. Watt sets single season sack record and accumulates high totals in tackles, TFL, batted balls, etc. Wouldn't hurt for him to score a few TDs.

4. Foster and Tate end up sharing the workload close to evenly, so no Texans RB emerges as a strong MVP candidate.

5. The passing game continues producing at its relatively modest pace (currently on pace for 3660/26), so neither Schaub nor AJ emerges as a strong MVP candidate. Wouldn't hurt for one or both to miss a few games.

6. No QB on a strong contender has a strong season while his team wins 14+ games (e.g., no Brady 2007, Rodgers 2011, etc.).

Short answer: no.

 

[whatadai]

He is great but with Cushing out he is going to have to be. I think the Texans Defense is going to have a hard time adjusting to Cushing being out and it makes their defense look a lot more vunerable all of a sudden. They almost made Sanchez look good last night. Almost.Also, their schedule is getting tougher so the days of them relying upon running and defense primarily may be numberered.

What game were you watching? He was just as dominant when Cushing left. Sanchez almost looked good? WHEN WAS HE EVEN CLOSE TO LOOKING GOOD? You're either blind or you didn't watch that game.The days of them relying on defense and running? They have been doing so for the past THREE years.

 

[machineo]

Through 5 games, there's only him, Foster with his 400 carry pace, and Matt Ryan. LT was the only other D player to win mvp, with 20.5 sacks and I'm sure he broke 100 tackles if they kept that stat in 1986. If, big if, Watt breaks the single season sack record, AND keeps up his tackle numbers (league leading for DEs, incl. 4-3), AND the Texans can remain a top 3 defense, that's a mighty big resume for anyone outside of Rodgers '11 or Brady '07 to beat.

 

[FF Ninja]

Long answer: the stars would have to align in a way that is extremely unlikely... like this:1. Texans go undefeated.2. Texans defense finishes #1 in points allowed and #1 in yards allowed.3. Watt sets single season sack record and accumulates high totals in tackles, TFL, batted balls, etc. Wouldn't hurt for him to score a few TDs.4. Foster and Tate end up sharing the workload close to evenly, so no Texans RB emerges as a strong MVP candidate.5. The passing game continues producing at its relatively modest pace (currently on pace for 3660/26), so neither Schaub nor AJ emerges as a strong MVP candidate. Wouldn't hurt for one or both to miss a few games.6. No QB on a strong contender has a strong season while his team wins 14+ games (e.g., no Brady 2007, Rodgers 2011, etc.).Short answer: no.

I don't think it would take that much, although #6 already looks likely. I think if the Texans end up the top seed in the AFC and Watt sets the sack record then it could easily happen. It appears he's a shoe in to set the passes deflected record.At this point, who are the leaders? Matty Average? Someone from the Bears?

 

[dino259]

he doesn't play QB

Unfortunately this along with the Heisman is the way things are today.

 

[Mr. Soup Nazi]

Currently his best competition is Matt Ryan and teammate Foster. After that he has no competition. Personally, I'd put him in 2nd behind Ryan and over Foster as the favorites at their current pace, but there is still a lot of season left.

 

[Funkley]

Not a Houston fan, havent seen their games but offering perspective. Jared Allen had 22 sacks last year and was almost unblockable. Vikings finished 3-13.

Is Watt the reason they are 5-0 or is he feasting on Houston seemingly always having the lead in games?

 

[jurb26]

Guys currently in the conversations for MVP, IMO.

QBs;

M. Ryan - Obvious leader right now.

T. Brady - Clear 2nd place IMO.

A. Smith - Don't laugh, look at his stats and look who he plays for.

E. Manning - 2nd best passer rating and NYG will be in the hunt.

Flacco - Well behind the top but just bellow Eli and in the hunt.

P. Manning - See Flacco.

Rothlisberger - He is practically the ONLY reason Pitt is winning right now. If that continues he deserves mention.

RBs;

Foster - Clear leader of the RBs but way behind the top 3 QBs. Perhaps on par with Flacco and bellow QB group.

R. Rice - In the hunt but Flacco would probably win over him.

Petterson - Barely in it but if Minn continues to win he will be mentioned.

** Intentionally left out ** - S. Ridely - No way he wins with Brady healthy.

WRs;

AJ Green - almost no chance but probably the best WR so far. NYG, Atl and NE WR's have no shot because of their QBs.

Defensive;

Watt - Clearly the best defensive player right now but well behind any QB on the above list due to bias. Also behind Foster on his own team.

Matthews - Clearly the best player in GB right now and having a great year stat wise. Even more of an outside chance than Watt.

Watt has virtually no shot at winning MVP. He would have to shatter the sack record, score a few times and have no QBs put up gaudy season's to have a chance.

 

[Quibbler]

None.

1) He's not an offensive player, 2) He's not a QB, 3) He plays for Houston, 4) He plays for the same team as Foster who 99% of America knows better.

 

[GregR]

As an aside, here's an article from the draft Watt was selected in that's been making the rounds in Houston of late. If you're going to be wrong, might as well go big.

Texans will rue the night they took Pizza Boy J.J. Watt over Nick Fairley, Houston lover

 

[cracKer]

Losing Cushing could actually strengthen Watt's case for MVP, if he and the Texans are able to maintain what they've started

 

[Tau837]

It's obviously quite premature to be writing off the field. Some people are acting like we're far enough along that there are only a couple candidates.

After 5 games in 2010, Brady wasn't a MVP contender, but he won.

And at those who are acting like Ryan isn't a viable candidate. He's on pace for 4822 passing yards, 42 passing TDs, 166 rushing yards, and 3 rushing TDs, and his team is 5-0.

 

[johnnyboy8102]

The dude's been dominant so far leading one of the best defense's in the NFL. Through 5 games, he has 8.5 sacks (as a ####### 3-4 DE),10.5 TFL and 8 passes knocked down (10 is the record for a season). He's been doing everything for the Texans defense and everyone who watched tonight's game saw that. The amazing thing is that this is only his 2nd year and he will probably continue to get even better.

Not disagreeing with you but your stats are a bit off. Watt has 4.5 stuffs and the record, since they have kept the stat, is 11 PD for a defensive lineman.

 

[cracKer]

Alex Smith for MVP

redemption