Jay, it's no discredit to Watt at all it's just the nature of the beast when it comes to QBs. The best lineman in the league doesn't directly effect winning as much as a QB in a typical game. i'm a complete Watt homer and he may be one of the greatest ever...but having a top tier QB for the next 10+ years is hard to pass up.
So you'd trade Watt for Matt Cassel? Watt for Johnny Football? I mean he's a QB right? This isn't about QB vs DE This is about Watt vs the QBs that you'd trade him for. The Grantland article mentioned Brady, I doubt the Texans would even consider that figuring that Brady could retire in a year or two. Watt for Luck? Watt is better than Luck, has more impact on a game than Luck. Basically this is trading for potential as Watt right now is a top 5 player in the NFL. For all the talk about the impact a QB has, there has been no QB to win it on his own. you take away a few of his weapons he'll have a bad year. You take away great defenders and his team will not have much success. You take away protection and he gets destroyed. QBs have more impact on a game...but it's by an inch and not a mile. Otherwise you wouldn't see LTs get paid the money they do or any other players. Point is, there are players who impact the game no matter the position, like Primetime or Jerry Rice. So who are the QBs you'd trade Watt for?
Player I would trade Watt straight up for without hesitation is Rodgers. Player I would trade Watt straight up for, but with some hesitation, is Luck. Everyone else not so much. Certainly no non-QB player. RG3's injury scares me, and I think Wilson's overrated given Seattle's surroundings.
Personally that's the only guy I would is Rogers. Luck for me still has a lot to prove, the other top QBs are getting up there in age...Rodgers still has plenty of good years left. To me Luck hasn't proved that he can be a elite QB yet, he proved he could be a really good one though.
Age, talent and upside does factor into things. I wouldnt trade Watt for a 2 year rental Peyton Manning. Or a very good Matt Stafford Jay Cutler type. But if you think a young QB WILL be the next Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers and you had s chance to get them, youd have think of trading anyone on the team to do it. For Watt the absolute lowest would be for next Drew Brees in prime and even then I'd probably not want to. I'm not too sold on Luck and Wilson being that. The Cam Newton hype died down already. I like RG3's upside but not health. But if a team did believe theyre gonna be that good, wouldnt blame them much if they had Watt and traded for that. I wouldnt trade Watt for Calvin Johnson, Darrell Revis, A Peterson, Patrick Willis, Polamalu, Jake Long, any of the other "best ofs" at non-QB positions.
You are completely taking what he said out of context. Obviously any QB isn't more valuable than a DL. However, an elite QB is more valuable than an elite DL, a great QB is more valuable than a great DL, a good QB is more valuable than a good DL. We all know that JJ is better than Luck, but Luck is more valuable to his team. Now the Texans may not benefit by trading for the two straight up since we do have a capable QB already, but if we had a QB that couldn't go out and get it done then that would be a different story.
well said. Even if Luck never becomes "elite" he will still be pretty good and I think a pretty good qb, on average, has a greater impact on winning than a great DE. I really don't see how anyone could disagree with that. You can take limit the impact of a DE through different ways, but for a QB, there is no way to stop him from getting his hands on the ball. Again, i kind of understand Jay's point and I do think there is some room for argument but the case I would say that the case is a little stronger for Luck...not because he's better than JJ (because he's not) but because he's a QB.
I agree with this. If last season was not a fluke, JJ Watt is the best non-QB. If the OLB's could just get some pressure, too.
No I took what he said at face value is all. This isn't about QB vs DE. This is about Watt vs Whoever you'd trade him form. Watt is no ordinary DE... He's better than Luck and there is NO guarantee that Luck will be a elite top 5 QB. The NFL is just so up and down, just look at Cam Newton... Any ways this isn't about DE vs QB, it's about Watt and how great of a player he could be. If average solid QBs were even more impactful than everyone else than they'd go number one every year in the draft. In fact Schaub is average-good and we all know he's not our MVP...not even close to being it. We don't even know if Luck can be better than Matt Schaub. Potential says he should be, but betting on potential in the NFL is tricky.
The only person I would trade Watt for is Rodgers. Brady, Manning too old (I know they can still get it done and are the cream of the crop, but I'm thinking long term). Now I must say that if Wilson and Luck improve and are Elite in 2 yrs or so and Watt is still Elite, then I would trade for either QB. An Elite QB brings more to the table, because of the impact he can have on a team (he always have his hands on the ball).
