Sacks are important but don't tell the whole story on a pass rusher by themself.  TFL's which have the same result as a sack, QB hurries, QB knockdowns, passes defensed, forced fumbles, etc... all directly or indirectly affect the way the game unfolds and as a result can affect the outcome of a game.  No defensive player in recent memory has affected as many plays as JJ Watt has through his first 4 seasons.  The guy is undoubtedly on pace to make the Hall and be regarded as an all-time great and his inclusion in the MVP discussion last year was well deserved, a feat in its own right for a defensive player.

 

FWIW, he led the league in TFL's last year with 29 followed by J. Houston and Suh with 23 each.

 

He led the league in passes defensed by a D-lineman with 10.  The next closest was a tie between Ricky Jean Francois, JPP, Jared Crick, Sammie Hill and Robert Quinn with 6.

 

According to Sportingcharts.com, he also led the league in QB hurries with 32 followed by J. Gallette with 29 and J. Houston with 26.

 

And regarding his 20.5 sacks last year, he was doing this as a 3-4 D-lineman.  3-4 D-linemen aren't typically known for pass rushing skills as they are usually trying to open up lanes for pass rushing Linebackers.  The next closest sack number by a Defensive End was 14.5 by 4-3 DE Mario Williams.  The next closest 3-4 DE in sacks was Vinny Curry of the Eagles with 9.

 

Finally, a tweet last December by Gil Brandt illustrates just how frequently he was affecting the QB versus the competition:

 

Gil Brandt ‏@Gil_Brandt  Dec 3
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(41,47,51);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(245,248,250);">J.J. Watt's Sacks (11.5) + knockdowns (43) + pressures (59) total is 113.5. The next closest is Everson Griffen at 65 (11-23-31).

<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(41,47,51);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(245,248,250);"> 

<p style="color:rgb(41,47,51);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(245,248,250);">I reference this tweet because I couldn't find anywhere online that kept QB knockdown stats (without a subscription) though I trust Gil is not making this number up and this was obviously not the numbers for the entire season as it was tweeted out with 4 weeks left on the schedule. I'm not sure what the difference between a QB pressure and a QB hurry is, but the incomplete pressures number above was obviously much higher than his season total for hurries.

<p style="color:rgb(41,47,51);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(245,248,250);"> 

<p style="color:rgb(41,47,51);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(245,248,250);">Did playing the Jaguars and Titans twice last year help? Probably, but were the Jaguars and Titans offensive lines equally terrible against the rest of their schedules or was JJ Watt making them look even worse? If anything, I think JJ Watt is exposing just how bad Houston's QB situation was last year. He is so historically dominant as a defensive player that even mediocre play by Houston's QB should have gotten them into the playoffs.

---