Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Of all the breakout performances throughout the 2012 fantasy football season, the most impressive on the defensive side of the ball was from Houston Texans DE J.J. Watt.
The former Wisconsin standout led the entire NFL with 20.5 sacks in 2012. He had six multi-sack performances and came up with an amazing fantasy stat line week after week. His fantasy explosion quickly made people forgot about Minnesota Vikings DE Jared Allen as the top defensive lineman in fantasy.
The defensive end even proved that he could have an impact against the run. Watt recorded an astonishing 81 tackles last season in the open field, including 69 solo stops. Former New York Giants DE Michael Strahan is an obvious Hall of Famer, and is looked at as one of the best to ever play the game, but the highest tackle total of his prestigious career was a meager 62 tackles. Watt destroyed that total in just his sophomore season and the youngster could be flirting with a 100-tackle-season from the line at some point very soon.
Watt also drew a ton of praise last year for his giant hands. He has the wingspan of a seven-footer and made an art form of knocking down passes at the line of scrimmage. He deflected 16 passes and constantly helped IDP owners fill out the box score.
Watt is hands down the number one IDP option this season. He will record at least 70 tackles and 15 sacks in the upcoming season, but don’t be surprised to see him once again go over 80 tackles and 18 sacks.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
