Houston Texans: All-Time draft picks by round

Round 1: J. J. Watt (2011)

The Houston Texans have drafted a few superstars in the first round such as Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins, Duane Brown and Deshaun Watson, but their best player drafted in the first round must be defensive end J.J. Watt, whom the Texans drafted 11th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.

In all, the Texans have made 18 selections in the first round, and even as great as those players mentioned before Watt were, the story is Watt is the best first-round pick ever in Texans history, with Andre Johnson a close second.

In his nine seasons with the Texans, Watt has played in 112 regular-season games for the Texans, all being starts, and in that time frame from 2011 to present day the defensive end has a career total of 479 tackles, 373 of those being solo tackles, along with 158 tackles for loss, 96 sacks, one safety, 265 QB hits and 15 fumble recoveries. Watt even once had an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown in 2014.

All of his accolades have led Watt to being a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, as the Houston Texans star even has dabbled before with the offense by scoring three touchdown receptions on the goal line in ’14 as well.

Watt is the face of the Houston Texans on the field and off the field. He’s won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, helped many folks in need with fundraising and charitable contributions, led the league in sacks twice (’12, 15), been to five Pro Bowls, been the Player of the Week seven times and has been selected as a first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press on five different occasions, with that honor coming as recently as 2018.

Maybe there is even more to come from Watt, as he’ll be 31 years old this upcoming season and this will be his 10th year with the franchise. If Watt is able to recover completely from his injury suffered last season, it will be exciting to see what awaits him this season.