No surprise here: Texans superstar J.J. Watt has been named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year, as Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News tweets. Watt was an absolute slam dunk for the award and he received 100% of the vote. That’s the first time in the history of the award that anyone has won the vote unanimously, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter).
This marks the second time that Watt has won the award after his first DPOY nod came in 2012. Watt joins Reggie White, Bruce Smith, Lawrence Taylor, Mike Singletary and Joe Greene as a multiple honoree, as Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle notes. The 25-year-old racked up 20.5 sacks, 78 tackles, four forced fumbles, and 32 points in 2014, adding 29 TFL, 50 quarterback hits, five fumble recoveries, 10 passes defensed, one interception, a safety, three receiving touchdowns and five total touchdowns. His dominance wasn’t confined to defense, either, as he made some cameos at tight end and fullback.
Watt was richly rewarded for his play in 2014 when the Texans gave him a whopping $100MM contract extension. Of course, for a player of Watt’s caliber, that could prove to be a tremendous value for Houston, if not a bargain.