J.J. Watt was the best defensive player in the NFL, according to the fine folks at Pro Football Focus. For the second straight season, Watt picked up the honors from the website, and he scored even better than he did in 2012.
Last year, he "broke the PFF grading system with a season total of 101.6, but this year that total finished up at 111.6, a full 10 grading points better." PFF has a unique grading system that takes into account a variety of factors, and Watt performed even better than he did in his superlative 2012 campaign.
Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and linebacker Lavonte David, both of Tampa Bay, were the second
and third runners up for the honor, while Saint Louis defensive end Robert Quinn was the first runner up.
The article's author, Sam Monson, pointed out that his poorest performance of the year came in the Week 6 loss to the Rams. Even then, though, Monson described his enormous impact on the strategy employed by Saint Louis.
"They ran away from where he lined up, they double teamed him at times, and when they didn't they made sure that they were passing too quickly for him to get to the quarterback. The point, though, is that in order to contain J.J. Watt you need to completely change your offense. He affects games like no other defender."
Monson finished off his description of Watt's place in the game with this sentence in his final paragraph about Watt.
"*Right now Watt is the best defender in football, and the best player period in the NFL." *
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