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J.J. Watt Wins Second Defensive Player Of The Year Award In Three Seasons

J.J. Watt is pretty darn good at football. So good, in fact, that his second career Defensive Player of the Year award almost felt like a foregone conclusion. Turns out it was, as Watt formally won that prestigious award tonight.

More like Defensive Player of the Century.
More like Defensive Player of the Century.
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, J.J. Watt has won his second Defensive Player of the Year award in the last three seasons and second DPOY in just the first four seasons of his career.

The JuggerWatt was the leader of the DPOY race from the very beginning of the season after eviscerating the Redskins offense to the tune of a sack, two tackles for loss, a deflected pass, and a blocked field goal attempt in Week One. That was only the beginning of Watt’s ridiculous season, however.  He finished 2014 with 78 total tackles, 20.5 sacks, 44 QB hits, 54 QB hurries, 4 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries, 10 pass deflections, 1 interception, and 5 total touchdowns. Despite signing a record-breaking contract extension in September, one could argue that Watt is the first and only grossly underpaid 100-million-dollar player in the NFL.

Plenty of other defenders around the league had amazing seasons themselves – Justin Houston, Luke Kuechly, Lavonte David, and Chris Harrisamong others – but no one is playing on Watt’s level right now. Absolutely no one. Hell, when all is said and done we could be looking at the most dominant multi-year stretch by a single player in the history of the sport.

Every game this man plays is a gift to football fans everywhere. J.J. Watt is the kind of player you tell your grandkids about.  He's the kind of player who is already on his way to the Hall of Fame before even finishing his rookie contract. I suggest everyone enjoy the show while they still can; we may never see another player like this again. Then again, if Watt's offseason plans to train in total isolation in the middle of the Wisconsin wilderness are successful, we could be in for something even better, if that is at all possible.

Good luck with that, Andrew Luck. You'll need it.