Yeah, the thing is I think all the voters will start looking for reasons to give the award to someone else (like when Dream was robbed of MVP by David Robinson) just because they are tired of it always going to the same guy. If they get to that point, it will be very easy for them to ignore the stuff that doesn't show up on a stat sheet. I hope Watt knows this and takes it to heart. If he finishes out the season the way he has been playing these last 5-6 games, it will be a moot point because the results will demand he get the award yet again.
Best example is back when the Bulls won their fifth title in their 2nd 3peat, they had the best record and of course Jordan was the best player on the planet. But the MVP went to Karl Malone and thus denied Jordan of an MVP 3peat (he won it the year before and the next year). So yeah media voters can have fatigue even on an obvious GOAT.
Hard to get Olajuwon MVP-fatigue when he only won one. Robinson's numbers were slightly better than Hakeem's in 1995 and SA finished 10+ games ahead of the Rockets. Barkley's MVP (1993) is the one where Dream was cheated. Definitely a popularity contest that season. Popularity will help Watt. He will end up with no fewer than 4 DPOYs which will be unprecedented (Taylor 3).
well you know how jj is. he will take it personal and turn it up even more, this time past holy phenom.
Hakeem was slightly ahead of Robinson in 1994-1995 in all major statistical categories except rebounds and they tied for that. PPG, SPG, ASG, BPG all favored Hakeem. Robinson shot a bit higher percentage for free throws and field goals and also played 9 more games. Robinson's per 36 minute totals were a bit higher, but as we all know, games are 48 minutes long.
47-35 teams aren't going to garner support for MVP candidates..... especially when the head-to-head at the time was 5-1 (Robinson over Hakeem). We all know who was the "better" player (and eventually the better team) was... but Robinson and the Spurs had a better season than Hakeem and the Rockets, and MVP is still a regular season award.
Is Watt the most popular Houston football figure since Earl Campbell? I imagine kids today feel the exact same way towards Watt as people my age felt about Big Earl back in the day. Maybe we should change his number to 34. Hakeem, Ryan, Earl, Watt.
Robinson's biggest advantage was PER (26 vs 29) ... that explains his per 36 totals being higher. Perhaps SA's regular season dominance enabled David to play less. Opponents "getting up" to play the defending champions probably was a factor too. Regardless though, the bigger travesty was Barkley's winning over Dream. Charles did nothing better than Olajuwon except an extra 1.5 assists. I think voters blew off Hakeem's '93 MVP and only gave him DPOY that year. Didn't you experience the Campbell Era? I can't imagine Earl being more popular than JJ. It's pretty amazing to even be comparing a defensive player to a RB. I don't think Houston has had a football icon like Watt since Earl. Moon was nice, but his domestic situation destroyed much of his adoration.
Why Luke will get some votes https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/12/01/pro-10-things-to-know-about-nfl-week-12/ 9. Luke Kuechly literally broke our new 1–100 grading scale. The Carolina Panthers’ Luke Kuechly is on pace to record the highest-graded season for a linebacker that we’ve ever seen in the PFF era (since 2007). As you may have known, we recently introduced a new 1–100 grading scale that is more comprehensible and allows for more friendly player comparisons. As Nathan Jahnke explained in his article on Friday, when PFF created this new scale, our analysts accounted for every great season recorded since 2007, and even made room for players to exceed those high marks. Playing only eight games this season due to injury, Kuechly has already posted the best grade PFF has ever seen from an ILB or 4-3 OLB, according to Jahnke. By logging into PFF’s 2015 Player Grades, you can see that Kuechly currently owns a 104.9 overall grade—on a scale that tops out at 100. He’s excelled beyond belief in run defense and pass coverage this season. While it will take some time to account for the exceptional play of Kuechly in our grading system, it’s certainly worth noting that we are witnessing a truly special season by the Carolina linebacker.
"Through 11 games, Watt has recorded 23 tackles for losses, 13 1/2 sacks and 40 quarterback hits to lead the NFL in all three categories. He had two sacks, two tackles for losses and seven quarterback hits against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday." http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexan...nd-j-j-watt-has-been-an-exercise-in-futility/
Was he mic'd up for the saints game? A coworker of mine was telling me he was but I can't find the video anywhere
