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Who was better in their prime: JJ Watt or A. Donald


Who was better in their prime: JJ Watt or A. Donald?  

64 members have voted

  1. 1. Both JJ Watt and Donald are the only players to win 3 DPOY over the span of 4 years. Who was more dominant in their prime?



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Tough one for sure. I'd say Watt, but that might be because he was in the same division as the Titans so I watched him a lot more.

Hard to argue with someone picking either.

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1 hour ago, JonStark said:

I'm not saying it isn't close, but I feel like anyone voting Watt is comparing them both as a DE, which is even more of a testament to AD.Ā 

What Donald did at DT is unparalleled.Ā 

DE in a 3-4 defense is arguably more demanding a position than an under tackle in a 4-3.

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2 hours ago, JonStark said:

I'm not saying it isn't close, but I feel like anyone voting Watt is comparing them both as a DE, which is even more of a testament to AD.Ā 

What Donald did at DT is unparalleled.Ā 

Watt in his prime was a 3-4 DE. Sometimes he line further out, but he just as often line up as a DT those years. Not as much difference as you are making it to be. Most career numbers favor Watt. That is in about the same number of games, but Watt basically was never healthy for the last 7 years of his career even when on the field.

Watt's prime year numbers are definitely better than Donald's. Donald had better health and therefore better career consistency. But this is asking prime. And the only reason it's close is because of the pure DT bump, rightly, given to Donald. If we weren't considering that then this wouldn't be a question.

The one stat that will get most overlooked is one where Watt blew Donald out of the water and that is PDs. Watt was significantly superior in affecting the play when he didn't get to the QB. And many of those ended up as turnovers. One year I believe it was like 6-7 passes that he got a hand on at the line went for an int.

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2 hours ago, JonStark said:

I'm not saying it isn't close, but I feel like anyone voting Watt is comparing them both as a DE, which is even more of a testament to AD.Ā 

What Donald did at DT is unparalleled.Ā 

To put a finer point on this

Watt's prime was 2012-2015. In those 4 seasons (not his best 4 in all categories)

Sacks: 69
TFL: 119
QB Hits: 190
Tackles (Total/Solo): 315/250
FF/FR: 15/10
PD: 41

In Donald's 4 best years in these categories (not necessarily the same 4 years for all categories)

Sacks: 59
TFL: 86
QB Hits: 137
Tackles (Total/Solo): 265/161
FF/FR: 17/5
PD: 14

So even taking Donald's 4 best years in every category he is well off the pace of Watt's 4 year prime. The positional difference undoubtedly accounts for some of it, but not all of it. As much as you say what Donald did was unparalleled, Watt's prime was probably the best prime in DE history

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On 3/24/2024 at 9:00 PM, mse326 said:

To put a finer point on this

Watt's prime was 2012-2015. In those 4 seasons (not his best 4 in all categories)

Sacks: 69
TFL: 119
QB Hits: 190
Tackles (Total/Solo): 315/250
FF/FR: 15/10
PD: 41

In Donald's 4 best years in these categories (not necessarily the same 4 years for all categories)

Sacks: 59
TFL: 86
QB Hits: 137
Tackles (Total/Solo): 265/161
FF/FR: 17/5
PD: 14

So even taking Donald's 4 best years in every category he is well off the pace of Watt's 4 year prime. The positional difference undoubtedly accounts for some of it, but not all of it. As much as you say what Donald did was unparalleled, Watt's prime was probably the best prime in DE history

Reggie White says hi.

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10 minutes ago, CasperX22 said:

Reggie White says hi.

Don't get me wrong I think White is the best defensive player ever. I sort of question the 21 sack 87 season for the same reason I question Rice's 22 TDs that season. Doing that in 12 games is so absurd that there had to be a clear effect from the work stoppage. He had longevity and consistency that Watt didn't. He had more impact in rush defense but the offensive game plans regarding run and pass were so different then that it is basically completely different how to utilize these 2. I have White as better overall because of longevity, but I think Watt had a better 4 year peak

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7 minutes ago, mse326 said:

Don't get me wrong I think White is the best defensive player ever. I sort of question the 21 sack 87 season for the same reason I question Rice's 22 TDs that season. Doing that in 12 games is so absurd that there had to be a clear effect from the work stoppage. He had longevity and consistency that Watt didn't. He had more impact in rush defense but the offensive game plans regarding run and pass were so different then that it is basically completely different how to utilize these 2. I have White as better overall because of longevity, but I think Watt had a better 4 year peak

I mean White has 70 sacks in his first 56 games of his NFL career.Ā  There isn't any way I can say that Watt had a better 4 year stretch in his career.Ā  Teams had to literally game plan around where Reggie White was on the field bc he could line up anywhere on the defensive line and abuse whoever they put in front of him as both a pass rusher and in the run game.Ā  He was literally shrugging off double teams.

Don't get me wrong.Ā  Watt was great while he was great, but at his best he was not better than Reggie.

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