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J.J. Watt gives shoutout to 'criminally underrated' NFL player
CBS analyst J.J. Watt on the field before Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

J.J. Watt gives shoutout to 'criminally underrated' NFL player

J.J. Watt has received plenty of recognition for being one of the best defensive players to ever take an NFL field, and the former Houston Texans star believes one current linebacker deserves more of it.

Analytics expert Aaron Schatz of FTN Fantasy shared a chart on Monday that showed which current and former NFL players have been the most dominant over the past two decades in a very unique category. The stat is called "defeats," which adds together forced turnovers, tackles for loss and tackles that prevent third- and fourth-down conversions.

Watt holds the top spot with 56 "defeats" in the 2012 season. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year also has three of the top seven spots. The player with the second-most "defeats" in a season is longtime Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David, who had 50 in 2013.

Watt shared the chart on his own X account and called David "criminally underrated."

David is entering his 14th season, all of which have been spent with the Buccaneers. He is one of the most durable and reliable players in the league, but he has only made the Pro Bowl once.

Watt is not the only one who views David as underrated, but Watt's opinion carries more weight than that of the average person. The shoutout was well-deserved.

Steve DelVecchio

Steve is a veteran writer who has covered a variety of sports and pop culture topics for more than 15 years. In addition to Yardbarker, his work has been featured on prominent digital publications including Larry Brown Sports, MSN and FOX Sports. The UConn graduate has published more than 40,000 stories and is one of the most experienced trending news writers in the country

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