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The Houston Texans have released star defensive end JJ Watt after he requested a release.
The Texans drafted Watt in the first-round 11th overall back in the 2011 draft.
In his rookie year, Watt got 5.5 sacks along with 19 quarterback hits and 13 tackles for loss.
However, in his second season, Watt exploded onto the scene. He racked up 20.5 sacks. 43 quarterback hits and 39 tackles for loss. This was Watt’s first season where he was selected to the Pro Bowl and selected for the All-Pro team.
This continued for the next three seasons as Watt took over the NFL defensively. He won another two Defensive Player of the Year awards. He was also selected to three more Pro Bowls and All Pro teams along with another 20-sack season.
However, in 2016 and 2017 he suffered multiple injuries, restricting him to just eight games across both seasons.
In 2018, he returned to his previous form getting another 16 sacks, 25 quarterback hits and 18 tackles for loss. Watt was also selected to his fifth Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams.
After the 2018 season, he again faced injury and was not at his best ,not reaching double digit sacks in either the 2019 or 2020 season.
At this point in his career, JJ Watt has 101 sacks which put him 31st all time. He’s also registered 282 quarterback hits and 172 tackles for loss. Along with this, he has five Pro Bowl and All Pro selections and is the first player to win three defensive players of the year awards. Watt was also selected to the 2010 all decade team.
Of the five times Watt made the playoffs with the Texans, the furthest they made was the divisional round.
All this happened across a decade.
Now that the 31-year-old defensive end is on the market there will be multiple teams looking for his signature.
