Houston Texans: Johnathan Joseph more important than Kareem Jackson

CBS Houston debated the fourth most important Houston Texans player and they chose outside cornerback Johnathan Joseph, which brings up questions about Kareem Jackson

The Houston Texans defense was the biggest reason for their success in 2015 in which they went 9-7 and won the AFC South. That fact makes it very unsurprising that when CBS Houston tried to decide the most important players on the team, the defensive side of the ball was discussed a lot.

Of course the number one guy was defensive end J.J. Watt and the next two were quarterback Brock Osweiler and then receiver DeAndre Hopkins. From there the Cody Stoots tried to decide the next most important player and the debate included defensive players like linebackers Brian Cushing and Whitney Mercilus and defensive back Johnathan Joseph.

In the end, Stoots decided Joseph was the guy who meant more to the team than the others and gave his reasoning as well.

"For me the answer is Johnathan Joseph. He was really good last year and displayed a ton of toughness playing through various ailments all year. He solidfys an oft forgotten part of the Texans defense which is the cornerback play. He is still a mentor to fellow veteran Kareem Jackson and surely imparts wisdom on Kevin Johnson and the other members of the cornerback room. As I mentioned people start switching positions if he was to go out. Impact, experience, and position make Joseph my fourth most important Texans player."

Completely absent from the list was the highly compensated Kareem Jackson, a corner who recently was given a massive deal by the Texans. The former first-round pick is now 28-years old and Stoots considered him to be one still needing mentoring despite his advanced age and elite corner contract.

Before the deal was given to Jackson the Toro Times ran a piece about the problem with giving a player like him a huge deal, and Stoots only confirmed what a bad idea it was to pay Jackson despite mediocre results.

In six NFL seasons Jackson has 12 interceptions, good for just two per season. For some perspective, A.J. Buoye has the same amount of interceptions over the past two seasons and he was undrafted and is on a minimal deal.

Next: Texans high on rookie TE Anderson

Jackson enters the second season of his four-year $34 million deal. It will be interesting to see if he is able to finally silence some of his doubters or if his contract will continue to seem over-inflated.