Justin Houston Will Repay Kansas City Chiefs' Faith as Perennial All-Pro
The Kansas City Chiefs signed the 26-year-old to a contract worth $101 million over six years, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The deal includes $52.5 million guaranteed, and is not only the richest ever given to a linebacker, but also the most money ever thrown at a single player in the history of the Chiefs franchise.
Houston has faced doubters since he failed a drug test at the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine. Some questioned his ability to translate his skills to the NFL level and were unsure of what position he would ultimately play.
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Any risk that the Chiefs took with selecting Houston was mitigated by his fall to the third round. It has since proved to be irrelevant.
Over the first four seasons of his career, Houston has become a dominant player—one of the very best in the NFL. He worked his way into prominence, notching 5.5 sacks while starting 10 games as a rookie, and amassing 43 sacks in over the past three seasons.
A league-leading 22 of those sacks came last year, landing Houston in the Pro Bowl and on the first-team All-Pro.
That shouldn't be a once-off or a peak for Houston. He should continue to repay the Chiefs' faith with All-Pro displays on a regular basis over the course of his new contract. Sometimes, production on the defensive side can be based on favorable matchups or support from teammates. That's not the case with Houston.
Although he plays with some talented teammates, most notably Dontari Poe and Tamba Hali, Houston is the most integral piece of the Chiefs front seven. He wasn't simply cleaning up sacks after Hali and Poe broke the pocket. He was a protagonist rather than a complementary piece.
It's his versatility as a pass-rusher that makes Houston so effective.
According to Pro Football Focus, he rushed the passer 462 times last season. If you count half-sacks, Houston got to the quarterback 23 times in 2014. That is once for every 20.1 opportunities. Houston not only led the league in sacks, but he was getting to quarterbacks more efficiently than his closest competitors.
| Justin Houston | 462 | 23 | 20.1 |
| Elvis Dumervil | 475 | 21 | 22.6 |
| Connor Barwin | 376 | 16 | 23.5 |
| Mario Williams | 482 | 16 | 30.1 |
| J.J. Watt | 671 | 21 | 32 |
| Von Miller | 540 | 15 | 36 |
| Ryan Kerrigan | 471 | 13 | 36.2 |
| Jason Pierre-Paul | 577 | 13 | 44.4 |
Houston's versatility makes it difficult for offensive tackles to stop him from getting to the quarterback. The presence of Tamba Hali and Dontari Poe up front prevents teams from double-teaming Houston as often as they'd like, forcing offensive tackles to win one-on-one situations, which is exceptionally difficult against Houston's vast skill set.
Not only does Houston not have any notable weaknesses as a pass-rusher, but everything he does is at a high level. He is flexible enough to punish offensive tackles in the specific ways that take advantage of their weaknesses.
For example, Houston was able to expose the mammoth-sized D.J. Fluker's lack of quickness in space when the Chiefs played the San Diego Chargers.
The Chargers initially lined up with a tight end and running back to Houston's side of the field. Despite the presence of Ladarius Green next to Fluker at the snap, the tight end released into his route without engaging Houston, while Houston never hesitated, anticipating a block attempt.
This allowed Houston to accelerate off the edge from a wide position without pause. Fluker got a good jump out of his stance at the snap, so he was in position to repel Houston's speed rush.
Even though Fluker's initial jump was impressive, his slow feet were quickly showcased. He wasn't attempting to meet Houston downfield. Instead he was trying to put himself in position to push the linebacker past his quarterback in the pocket.
But he failed due to Houston's speed and strength, which allowed him to quickly get past the offensive tackle before fending off his hands to hit Philip Rivers in the pocket.
Compared to the best speed-rushers in the NFL, Houston doesn't stand out as spectacular. However, for a player with his size (6'3", 260 lbs), strength and balance, his burst, quickness and speed are all impressive. It's rare for an edge-rusher to combine all of those traits into his skill set.
Against weaker offensive tackles or tight ends, Houston can simply power through or over block attempts to force his way into the pocket. He is also adept with his hand usage, meaning he can manipulate blockers by ripping them to the ground or by punching them out of his way.
Bobby Massie of the Arizona Cardinals discovered just how powerful Houston can be on this play.
With Drew Stanton alone in the shotgun, the Chiefs defensive line can be aggressive in its alignment. Houston lined up wide and put his hand in the ground.
From this position, Massie had to be aware of the speed-rushing threat coming off the edge.
Houston didn't aggressively run to the outside of Massie, but he did initially angle his route to the quarterback toward Massie's outside shoulder. Just before the offensive tackle can engage him, Houston used his feet to sell an inside move before working back outside.
This flight of feet held Massie for a moment, allowing Houston to get level with him on the outside.
Massie was able to get his hands on Houston, but the defender extended his own arms into the chest of the offensive tackle. His hands landed with a thud on Massie's chest, knocking him backward slightly. Massie didn't have his full balance beneath him after reacting to Houston's quick feet.
From this position, Houston could try to bend the edge around Massie, but instead used the tackle's lack of balance while moving to his advantage.
With one quick motion, Houston ripped Massie down before pulling him to the ground as he turned the edge. Massie fully focused on maintaining his balance, stumbling forward without maintaining contact with Houston. This freed Houston to penetrate the pocket.
Houston was able to hit Stanton from behind, lunging at the football in his grasp.
That level of effectiveness, versatility and consistency as a pass-rusher allowed Houston to come within one play of setting the sack record. Considering he rushed the passer on fewer than 500 plays, that is a phenomenal achievement.
The 2014 season shouldn't be the last time that Houston threatens the sack record, despite his relatively low number of opportunities. The Chiefs don't unleash Houston as a pass-rusher on every snap because his versatility extends past his pass-rushing ability.
He is likely the best coverage 3-4 outside linebacker in the NFL, and defensive coordinator Bob Sutton is an aggressive, creative blitzer. He will likely continue to look to Houston's ability to drop into coverage in his attempts to confound quarterbacks at the snap.
More often than not, Houston is simply asked to drop into an underneath zone. Even in these situations, it can be tough for linebackers to correctly diagnose route combinations and react to them.
Houston shows off the awareness and footwork to swap between receivers while maintaining his balance in space. His effectiveness is such that Houston could likely move into a box safety role and still remain an elite player.
In today's NFL, it's crucial to provide value against the pass as a defender at any position. You can't be a liability against the run, though.
As an edge defender, if you can't hold up against the run, teams will simply run at you on every snap. Houston is a talented run-blocker, even though it was an aspect of his game that was questioned coming out of college.
On this play, the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to try to run to Houston's side of the field.
This play highlights Houston's ability to control blockers on the edge to account for both gaps that bracket his opponent. Crucially, Houston was proactive in his actions. Before Bell even touched the ball, Houston advanced downfield and extended his arms into right tackle Marcus Gilbert.
Houston is so fast that Gilbert didn't even have a chance to raise his hands to counter Houston's extended arms.
Houston was in control of Gilbert as soon as he engaged him. As Bell took the ball toward the line of scrimmage, Houston wrenched Gilbert off his feet and pushed him backward. This took space away from Bell and put Houston in position to play both the inside and outside running lane.
As Gilbert tried to recover his position, Houston had his eyes on Bell. He showed patience to hold his position and watch the running back instead of immediately shooting the gap to try to close on him.
This is a subtle aspect of what Houston does, but it is vitally important. If Houston had attempted to penetrate past Gilbert's inside shoulder, he would have given Bell the outside running lane and Gilbert an opportunity to push him out of the play. By holding his position for a moment, Houston kept his gap discipline.
Once Bell turned toward the sideline, Houston put all of his power into his hands to push Gilbert off of his body. He did that with relative ease before capturing Bell on the outside. Bell fought forward for a yard or so, but only to get back to the line of scrimmage.
This kind of play is what Houston can do on a regular basis. It is the ideal way of setting the edge, because he showed outstanding control in his movement and played with discipline. He didn't simply overplay one gap and get lucky based on what the running back decided.
Save for injury or off-field issues, neither of which can be truly foreseen, there should be no question that Houston represents value on his new contract.
The financial investment may be huge, but Houston is a unique, high-quality 3-4 outside linebacker in a league that is lacking exactly that. He should prove to be a perennial All-Pro player at a high-impact position. Dominant pass-rushers are as difficult to find as quality starting quarterbacks.
Houston is a dominant pass-rusher...and so much more.
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