Why J.J. Watt Should but Won’t be MVP

By Prentiss Jackson
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Updated: January 25, 2015

Over the more recent years, sports award winners had a lot to do with team performance more so than the impact they left individually on the game. Being the best player on the best team doesn’t qualify an individual for the sports highest honor, but no player has ever won that wasn’t “MVP caliber.” Is it too much stock being placed in team performance over individual success for a individual award? It always reminds me of the 2006-2007 nba season. Dirk had an unbelievable season, a 40-50-90 season, and the Mavs had the best record in basketball. Standing in the lone corner of a historical dominate season was Kobe Bryant; 10 50+ point games, including four in a row. 10 in a season only matched by Wilt Chamberlain. First team ALL-NBA, 1st All Defense, and NBA scoring title. The Lakers success as a team, 7th seed, didn’t generate enough votes for an invidual award.

Now discount double check what happened in the NFL this season. The best player in the world, Aaron Rodgers played like the best player in the world. He didn’t throw an INT at home, had a qb rating of 112.2, 8th highest in NFL history. Why he will win it is because not only him having a dominant season, the Packers supported him with lots of team success. The packers were division champs, and should be playing in next weeks super bowl. The reason for the award mainly is the ball is always in the qb hands. He dictated a lot of outcomes and has to shoulder the wins and losses (pay attention Bob Griffin III), and he drives the franchise. As a former defensive lineman myself, I’m going to knock Rodgers. He struggled mightily vs Seattle (twice), Lions, and Bills, three of the best defensive teams in the NFL. Should that take away from from Rodgers historical season? NO!

My MVP:

JJ Watt might have put together, historically, one of the greatest football seasons at any position. He had 20.5 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, 50, I repeat, 50, 5-0, I plead the Fifthhhhhhhh QB hits, 4 forced fumbles, 5 funbles recoveries and an interception for TD. He finished 2nd in sacks, 3rd in forced fumbles and lead the NFL in fumble recoveries. He scored 5 tds, 3 on offense and 2 on defense including a safety. He scored more points than NFL stars Frank Gore and Shady McCoy. He would have been the 3rd leading scorer on 4 different teams. Pure unadulterated dominance.

Should Watt win the award, he would be the first defense player to win it since LT won it in 1986, and the first player to win it on a non-playoff team since 1973. This is where the story begins and ends with the MVP race for Watt and it shouldn’t. His teams lack of success will keep him from potentially winning the league’s glorious “individual” award. If the Texans were a playoff team, this race is a runaway with Watt taking home the award, instead we’re looking at the Texans win-loss column. The case can be made that if you take Rodgers off the packers that they are not a playoff team and the Texans were a non-playoff team even with Watt.

As great as both of these guys were, maybe they shouldn’t be competing for the same awards because it’s impossible to compare what they do. I can compare dominance though, and nobody dominated like JJ Watt did.