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See Through The Film: JJ Watt

Andrew McKagan |
April 5, 2014 | 12:33 p.m. PDT

Staff Writer

Most NFL fans know that JJ Watt is a very good player. However, after following up his 2012 20.5 sack Defensive Player of the Year campaign with "only" 10.5 sacks and no such award in 2013, the perception of many is that Watt had a regressive year.

After reading an article on Pro Football Focus' website that gave Watt a higher overall grade in 2013 than in 2012, I decided to investigate for myself. A subscription to NFL Rewind later, and I have reason to believe Watt is better than ever, in spite of his statistical decline. Not all the impact Watt has will pop out on the stat sheet; no, one must watch Watt snap in and snap out to truly understand the incredibleness of this freakish athlete. Here are examples of some plays that Watt made on a routine basis throughout 2013 that you won't see in the box score:

Week 1: Texans @ Chargers

6 minutes, 8 seconds in: JJ Watt (99, middle of the screen) takes out two blockers, allows Joe Mays (53) to stay clean and make the tackle on Ryan Mathews.

7:30: Watt commands the double team from D.J. Fluker and Le'Ron McClain (left side of the screen), leaving Whitney Mercilus (59 on the right of the screen) with a one-on-one opportunity which Mercilus converts into a sack.

14:48: Watt stands up double team (middle of the screen), and forces designed fullback lead play to cut back to the offense's left side into the waiting arms of Mays and Mercilus for a minimal gain.

16:08: JJ Watt puts a mean swim move on Fluker (76), knocking Fluker to the ground (pictured on the left side of the screen). While it looks like the play was designed for tight end John Phillips (83) and Fluker to double team Watt, Watt taking Fluker out of the play so early actually allowed Fluker to get back up and throw a block on Mays a few second later, while the scheme originally would have left Mays unblocked. This is therefore actually a case of Watt doing his job too well.

16:38: Watt (on the ground by Phillip Rivers' ankles) applies the pressure to Rivers, who is forced to throw the ball away when he had Phillips (83) wide open on what should have been an easy completion for a first down. This again doesn’t register on the stat sheet, but is a play of extreme importance.

34:49: Watt fights through the double team (right side of the screen) by Jerome Clary (66) and Nick Hardwick (61, but not visible) to get an arm on Ronnie Brown (23, not visible); Watt doesn’t make the tackle, but slows Brown down enough so others can swarm to the ball. Again, there's nothing on the stat sheet for Watt from this play, but fighting through two grown NFL offensive linemen is just damn impressive.

41:21: Watt takes on a triple team (left side of the screen). This is just amusing.

Week 9 Colts @ Texans

9:03: Watt (not visible) stands up double team (middle of the screen) by Gosder Cherilus (78) and Jeff Linkenbach (72) and forces Trent Richardson to cut back to the offense's left side into a Joe Mays tackle.

22:11: Running back Trent Richardson (34) is so focused on helping his left tackle with Watt (right side of the screen) that he misses the blitzer, Joe Mays, as Mays comes essentially free up the middle for the sack of Andrew Luck.

33:27: Watt's pressure causes Luck to step up and to the offense’s left side, into the waiting arms of Antonio Smith (94), who was credited for the sack. Smith made a nice play to fight through traffic himself, but he likely wouldn’t have had the sack opportunity had it not been for Watt’s influence.

1:14:36: Watt's penetration (pictured in the backfield on the ground) causes Richardson to hesitate and cut back to the offense's left side into the arms of Earl Mitchell in a play that resulted in negative yardage.

1:15:36 This play is actually designed for right tackle Cherilus to let Watt run by him in hopes that Watt will overrun the play. However, Watt is too athletic to be schemed for in this case, and uses his incredible burst to get across the formation and make the tackle on running back Donald Brown anyway (left side of the screen).

 

Week 13 Patriots @ Texans

9:39: Watt avoids the cut block of Will Svitek (left side of the screen) and chases down running back Brandon Bolden to make the tackle from the backside. While this will go down as merely a tackle for Watt in the box score, the ability Watt displayed to run across the formation to make a play he wasn’t even supposed to be remotely involved in in the first place is much more significant.

25:18: Maybe New England should stop trying to take Watt (right side of the screen) out on the back side with Svitek cut blocks…

37:58: Yeah…okay. New England seriously needs to throw this one out. Watt chased the running back down from the back side and was in on the tackle every time the Patriots ran this play.

16:01: The Patriots double-team Watt with two offensive linemen here (middle of the screen). This gives edge rushers Whitney Mercilus and Brooks Reed (58) one-on-one opportunities (both are being blocked by tight ends, which usually favors the defensive player), but unfortunately for Houston, neither is able to take advantage and get the quick pressure on Brady. Plays like this are what might tempt Houston to select Jadeveon Clowney with their first overall pick as a player who can win those one-on-one matchups and keep defenses from focusing almost solely on Watt.

28:01: The Patriots double-teamed Watt (middle of the screen) while leaving Mercilus unblocked for the sack coming off the offense's left side. Had the Patriots not felt the need to double Watt, there likely would have been that extra player there to pick up Mercilus.

43:17: Here is another instance of Watt being doubled by the center and the left guard, yet nobody else is able to win their single matchups.

So yeah, JJ Watt is pretty good. Many plays where only a tackle shows up in the box score were actually much more than that out on the field. Watt makes players around him better (ahem, Joe Mays and Whitney Mercilus) with his command of multiple blockers, giving his teammates one-on-one situations or even leaving them unblocked. Watt hasn't declined from 2012 to 2013. No, he's just getting started. And that should be easy to see.

Reach Staff Writer Andrew McKagan here or follow him.



 

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