J.J. Watt is best player in football on ESPN’s NFL rankings
By Matt Couden
Houston Texans defensive star J.J. Watt was named the best player in the NFL by ESPN.
The best pass rusher in the NFL also ranks as the league’s top overall player. Three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt was recently named the No. 1 player in the league on the NFL rankings list compiled by ESPN. Watt edged out one of the game’s top quarterbacks and two of its star receivers to grab the top spot.
According to ESPN, their ranking system simply rates players based on how good they are using a scale of one to 100. Obviously, the closer to 100 a player’s score is, the better. Watt scored a 97.87 on ESPN’s list, edging out Aaron Rodgers, who had a 97.02.
Coming in third on the list is New England Patriots Rob Gronkowski with a score of 95.78. Rounding out the top five were Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown and Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller.
This is the second straight year that Watt took the top spot over Rodgers. ESPN notes that Watt leads the NFL over the past four seasons with 69 sacks. He’s also the only other player in the history of the league besides Lawrence Taylor to win three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Heading into this latest season, Watt has been on the mend. The Texans defensive star has been recovering from back surgery for a herniated disc. It’s still unknown if he’ll be ready to go for the team’s season opener against the Chicago Bears on Sept. 11.
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Nonetheless, the Texans continue to hold the league’s top overall player and his rehabilitation has been moving along nicely. For Watt, he’s hoping that his team will become more of a contender as he continues to put together top notch stats and seasons for them.