J.J. Watt announces retirement; will Cameron Jordan join him in the Hall of Fame?
Training at EXOS in az pre combine to 12 seasons later Salute to one of the greatest from draft class ‘11! https://t.co/4CDmM3vUoU
— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) December 27, 2022
We’ve got two more weeks to appreciate what J.J. Watt has accomplished in the NFL, with the Arizona Cardinals defensive end announcing his intention to retire after the 2022 season on Tuesday. Now, Watt is a surefire inductee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame — when he was at his peak, he was the best player in the game. But he’s been a consistent top-shelf talent throughout his career, and he fully deserves to be immortalized in Canton.
What about Cameron Jordan? How does the New Orleans Saints standout compare to Watt? Could both players end up in the Hall of Fame someday? Let’s explore.
But let’s be clear about something: Watt at his peak was untouchable. Jordan turned in some stellar campaigns (his 2017 and 2019 seasons were particularly impressive) but these players are very much on two different tiers. I can still see Watt dusting Zach Strief before challenging Terron Armstead to come over and bracket him, then splitting both blockers to make another big play. With that said, it’s worth putting Watt’s career numbers up against Jordan’s to give fans some context about how special both players have been in the NFL.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way. Watt and Jordan were both picked in the 2011 NFL draft’s first round; Watt went off the board to the Houston Texans at 11th overall, whereas Jordan was picked by the Saints at No. 24. Jordan has been one of the NFL’s most-durable players, starting 189 of the 190 games he’s played in the regular season (just missing two of them, once in COVID-19 protocols and later due to injury) with 11 playoff appearances, 10 of them starts. Watt’s career has been slowed by injuries more often. He’s started all 149 games he’s played in the regular season, plus 6 of his 9 postseason appearances, but it’s tough to hold that against him.
Especially considering how high of a level Watt has reached. Here’s where he and Jordan rank in some key categories at Pro Football Reference:
Sacks (tracked since 1982) | Tackles for loss (tracked since 1999) | Forced fumbles (tracked since 1993) | |
J.J. Watt (149 regular season games) | 111.5 (26th) | 191 (2nd) | 27 (tied-32nd) |
Cameron Jordan (189 regular season games) | 112.5 (24th) | 148 (tied-10th) | 14 (tied-171st) |
What about all-star recognition? Watt has been selected as an All-Pro on five occasions, and he’s also a five-time Pro Bowler. More significantly, he’s a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. But he was also named to the Hall of Fame’s All-Decade Team for the 2010’s, as was Jordan. And for his part, Jordan is a seven-time Pro Bowler, though he’s got just one All-Pro nod on his resume.
It’s an interesting subplot to track in the years ahead. Hopefully Jordan isn’t ready to hang up his cleats just yet. He’s within punching distance of Rickey Jackson’s Saints sacks record (trailing Jackson’s total of 115 by 112.5) and that would do a lot to help him join Jackson (and Watt) in the Hall of Fame someday. For now, we’ll salute Watt just like Jordan is doing, and worry about Jordan’s post-career success when the time comes.
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Hall of Fame: Every Saints player who's enshrined in Canton
