Author: /u/isomorphZeta

Random thought I had today thinking over the history of the franchise. Guys like AJ80 and Watt obviously headline pretty much all “Greatest Players in Franchise History” lists, but as we all know both guys finished their careers with other teams.

Who’s the best player that started and ended their career with the Texans? The first name that popped into my head was Brian Cushing, but maybe I’m missing someone else?

J.J. Watt put up the following absolutely insane resume for the 2014 season:

• Unanimous DPOY
• Made All-Pro first AND second team, as a DE and DT, respectively.
• 20.5 sacks (2nd in the league behind Justin Houston’s absurd 22 sack season)
• 78 combined tackles, 51 QB hits, and a league-leading 29 tackles for a loss
• 4 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries, 1 fumble recovery TD
• 10 passes defensed (same number as A.J. Bouye, 1 fewer than Jonathan Joseph, and 3 more than the next closest D-lineman) with an 80 yard pick-6
• 1 forced safety
• 1 blocked kick
• 3 targets, 3 receptions, 3 touchdowns

And he lost to Rodgers in a year that he finished:

• #1 in interception percentage (ahead of Alex Smith, Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, and Ben Roethlisberger by 0.5%)
• #2 in QB rating (1 point behind Tony Romo)
• #3 in TDs (behind Luck with 40 and Peyton Manning with 39)
• #7 in passing yards (571 yards behind Brees and Roethlisberger)
• #9 in completion percentage (4.3% behind Tony Romo)

But the Packers won their division, so… that was enough to justify him winning MVP, I guess. Didn’t even lead the Packers to the #1 seed (that was the Seahawks), but the only non-QB to win MVP since 2007 was Adrian Peterson in 2012.

Man, still pisses me off…

If Watt didn’t win MVP in 2014, there is zero chance any defensive player wins it in our lifetime barring some kind of significant change to the voters’ criteria.