5 players who Houston Texans need to be great in 2020

3. DE J.J. Watt

As easily expected after they traded away Jadeveon Clowney last offseason, the Texans struggled to get after the passer last season (31 sacks). J.J. Watt (pectoral) missed eight games and had four sacks (second on the team), while Whitney Mercilus led the team with 7.5 sacks. A secondary that struggled the hold up amid some injuries could have used a lot more help from the pass rush.

It’s no surprise that as Watt goes, so goes the Texans’ pass rush and with it the performance of the entire defense to some degree. Via Sarah Barshop of ESPN, Houston’s pass rush win rate was 44.3 percent (16th in the league) during the first half of last season. In the second half, after Watt went down in Week 8, that rate fell to 25.4 percent (31st in the league). Mercilus, also as expected, had 5.5 of his 7.5 sacks for the season when Watt was on the field.

There’s no denying Watt’s greatness, but the fact is he has played more than eight games just once in the last four seasons. He has to stay healthy and produce at his typical level for the Texans’ defense to even be a league-average unit in 2020.