Film Room: J.J. Watt reminds everyone he's the best defensive player in the NFL

Take a second and look at the main image on this column again. Cyril Richardson is a 6-foot-5, 343-pound man, and he's sitting on the ground hopeless, while J.J. Watt taunts him. 

Richardson looks tired and beaten down, like he's taken blows to his confidence. His right arm appears to be bruised and his dreadlocks are running in every direction. The buffalo on his helmet was running away, too, somewhere into the wilderness where it couldn’t be hunted anymore.

In the image, Watt looks pissed off, his veins popping out of his neck like branches off of a tree. His jaw is stiff, causing his cheeks to wrinkle and his eyes to focus on the prey he stood over. The only thing restraining Watt under this roofed ring is a worried referee, who flagged Watt twice for roughing in this game. If it was up to Richardson, it would have been more.

On Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, Watt had eight hits, six hurries and an interception, per Pro Football Focus. It was his best performance through four weeks of the season and a reminder that he’s the best defensive player in the NFL.

The matchup favored him, so it wasn’t a surprise that he dominated the offensive line, but it’s how he did it. He took advantage of what the Bills gave him and used multiple pass-rush moves against the blockers. If guards Richardson or Erik Pears blocked inside, Watt ran outside and vice versa. That’s what makes him special; he embarrasses blockers physically and mentally from the three-technique, a difficult position to play.

It all starts with Watt’s footwork. It’s usually a simple step off the line that’s troublesome for blockers because he’s so quick.

During the second quarter, Watt was at the three-technique outside of Pears when he leaned slightly forward at the snap, as if he was going to the B-gap in between Pears and the right tackle. It made Pears take a false step to his right, leaving a gaping hole to his left. Watt burst across Pear and shot through the opening.

In hopes of recovering, Pears extended his left arm out to slow Watt down, but it did little, as Watt lowered his shoulder and powered through the middle of the pocket, spearing the quarterback as an incomplete pass was thrown.

Watt attacks blockers in multiple ways because of his quickness. Although his first step is dangerous on a speed rush, it can become more difficult to defend when he builds off of the quickness to setup other moves, such as the arm-over.

The arm-over is difficult to execute because it requires strength and timing. As a defensive end or tackle, you have to club the blocker’s inside shoulder with your inside arm or grab it and pull it down and then bring your outside arm over their head as they fall forward.

Watt’s the master at this, and he showed it again on Sunday. He was at the three-technique and rushed outside to lock arms with Pears. His right arm was under Pears’ pads, which allowed Watt to grab him while he pushed his weight off of his left foot and pulled Pears down just enough to bring his left arm over him.

He leaned to the inside gap at the same time and burst through, pressuring the quarterback into a hurried throw.

When Watt leaned inside, he was dipping his shoulders to play with leverage. If he would have stood up and tried to rush inside, he would have been pushed off-balance and wouldn’t have collapsed the pocket. It’s common among pass rushers to play frequently with their pads high, but that’s not the case with Watt. His consistency is another reminder of why he’s the best pass rusher in the NFL.

At another point in Sunday's game, Watt was on the opposite side of Pears, facing Richardson, the man he stood over and taunted. Richardson was at left guard, and Watt was again at the three-technique.

Watt leaned across the line of scrimmage and grabbed Richardson’s jersey, pulled him down and burst past him as he let go. Richardson wasn’t able to generate any power or proper hand placement because of this, leaving him to try to push Watt away from the pocket. Watt powered through, though, and sunk his shoulder as he turned the corner.

Watt bent his inside knee and lowered his shoulders more, and turned his hips to face the quarterback, putting him in position to burst forward and bend into the pocket to get after the passer. A last-second burst missed the passer, but his pressure set up a sack for a teammate.

Playing with consistent dominance and helping teammates become better players is what the NFL greats did. Lawrence Taylor did it for years, stepping up when his team needed him. Bruce Smith and Reggie White did it as well. Now J.J. Watt does it, too.