Texans DE J.J. Watt lands at No. 45 on NFL Network’s Top 100 Players list

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt found a spot on the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players list at No. 45 overall.

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt has placed No. 45 overall on the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players list.

The appearance is Watt’s eighth on the NFL Network’s list that is voted on by the players.

The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year played only eight games as his season was cut short with a torn pectoral muscle in Week 8. Watt returned from injured reserve for the Texans’ playoff run, producing two tackles, 1.0 sack, a tackle for loss, and a pass breakup in Houston’s two postseason games.

Watt collected 24 tackles, 4.0 sacks, four tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries in his eight games with the Texans last year. The most impressive stat was his quarterback hits at 21. Cameron Wake was the only other player who played nine games or fewer and collected double-digit quarterback hits, and the Tennessee Titans edge rusher only had 11.

Entering his 10th NFL season after the Texans selected him in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Watt still yearns to deliver a Super Bowl for Houston.

“You play the game to win the Super Bowl,” Watt told reporters on May 27. “That’s the goal. That’s the driving force. It’s among many things, obviously, but that’s always number one, is to help your team, help your city get to that game and to win it. For me, motivation is not hard to come by. Whether it’s just personal intrinsic motivation every day, training, trying to get better, trying to compete against yourself, whether it’s competing on the field against other players and other teams, whether it’s finding motivation whatever way you need to. There will never be a shortage of motivation for me.”

In 2019, Watt was part of a Texans back-to-back as he placed No. 12 overall and receiver DeAndre Hopkins went ahead at No. 11. That Watt has fallen as far as No. 45 indicates the pectoral muscle impacted his standing with his peers, but not enough to keep him off the list.