J.J. Watt wants to “prove his worth” in 2020, and he’s going to be exciting to watch.
One player who is geared to make a lot of Houston Texans news headlines this upcoming season is J.J. Watt, who as a defensive end wants to “prove his worth” after missing half of last season, but returning to the playoffs.
J.J. Watt — who is entering his 10th season with the Texans — spoke with the Texans news media outlets via video conference on Wednesday, and the veteran pass rusher let it be known he wants to prove he’s back in 2020.
In 2019, J.J. Watt played in eight regular-season games, and in those games he wasn’t up to his usual self, but still productive nonetheless. In the ’19 season, Watt totaled 15 solo tackles, four tackles for loss, 21 QB hits and four sacks.
Watt was on half the pace in total sacks in ’19 than what he collected in ’18 as his 2018 numbers included 16 sacks, 18 tackles for loss and 25 QB hits. When healthy, Watt is one of the very best players in all of the NFL, and within that, if he’s healthy he’s the defensive leader on and off the field and is one of the faces of the franchise, along with quarterback Deshaun Watson.
During the Wednesday video conference, Watt said the following about his contract situation with the Houston Texans:
"“I fully understand and respect the situation that I’m in at the moment and what’s happened in the past few years, so I’m not going to sit here and demand anything because I’m going out there to prove what I’m worth, and I believe that’s the right situation for everybody.”"
J.J. Watt continued to talk about his current contract situation as he kept speaking on “proving his worth” to the Texans:
"“I think if I went back and asked for an extension, more money, anything right now, I think that would be the wrong move. I’m just going out there and trying to prove my worth and to help this team win games and do everything that I can to earn and make sure that these people know that I’m worth it.”"
Houston Texans News: J.J. Watt and the 2020 NFL season
Three of the past four seasons have seen J.J. Watt miss 32 regular-season games due to season-ending injuries in 2016 and 2017 and eight games last season. Within those seasons was the aforementioned 16-sack season by Watt, and that ’18 season showed he’s still able to play at a very high level.
What will be interesting to watch with J.J. Watt is how he works some of his new defensive teammates, especially playing alongside rookie Ross Blacklock, who replaces D.J. Reader at nose tackle. Watt’s saying he wants to prove what he is worth shows the character of the man, but also if he does just that, the price tag on him will be worth a lot of money.
Let’s all hope for the sake of the Texans, and for Watt himself, that he does prove that worth. If he does, that means he’s going to bring a lot of success to the Houston Texans defense, which should mean they will be competing for a playoff spot. All of that said, if there is one player who can “prove his worth,” Watt is that player.