Bucs' Gerald McCoy Quietly Competing with J.J. Watt for NFL's Best Defender

The Houston Texans' J.J. Watt is considered the best defensive player in football, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Gerald McCoy is having a better season. 

The biggest difference between the two is Watt plays for a revived 3-2 Texans squad, while McCoy continues to dominate for the lowly 1-4 Buccaneers. 

When their individual play is compared, McCoy is much closer than statistics would indicate. 

Player	Overall	Pass rush	Run defense	Average grade per game
Gerald McCoy	17.8	16.9	4.2	4.45
J.J. Watt	25.7	23.3	2.4	5.14

Two things need to be taken into consideration when looking at McCoy's performance to date. 

First, the defensive tackle played 124 fewer snaps than Watt this season due to a broken hand, which McCoy suffered during the first quarter against the St. Louis Rams. While McCoy's average grade is lower per game, the Oklahoma product played only nine snaps against the Rams, which brings down the average. McCoy's average grade per game in which he was a full participant is 6.2, or a full point higher per game than Watt. 

If Pro Football Focus' grades (subscription required) for McCoy and Watt are broken down even further, it becomes more obvious which defender has had more of an impact when he's been on the field. 

Player	Snaps	Overall	Pass rush	Run defense
Gerald McCoy	222	0.080	0.076	0.019
J.J. Watt	326	0.076	0.071	0.007

On a down-by-down basis, McCoy has proved to be more consistent than Watt. Imagine if the defensive tackle were actually healthy with full usage of both his hands. 

Even when looking at traditional stats, McCoy is nearly as productive despite seven fewer quarters of play. 

Player	Total Tackles	Deflected passes	Sacks
Gerald McCoy	12	1	2
J.J. Watt	19	3	2

If those numbers are broken down by the number of games actually played (excluding McCoy's brief appearance against the Rams) and extrapolated over a 16-game season, this is how the two defensive linemen would compare:

Player	Total Tackles	Deflected passes	Sacks
Gerald McCoy	59	5	11
J.J. Watt	61	10	6

Perception often becomes reality around the NFL, though. 

The lasting image of the two players so far this season is Watt intercepting a pass against the Buffalo Bills, which resulted in an 80-yard touchdown, even though McCoy is coming off his best defensive effort of the season in an overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints. 

The interior defender was a terror against the Saints and made quarterback Drew Brees uncomfortable throughout the contest. The pressure McCoy and the Buccaneers applied forced the quarterback into an un-Brees-like three interceptions. 

The defensive tackle dominated four-time All-Pro right guard Jahri Evans, as The Times-Picayune's Jeff Duncan noted. 

What makes McCoy truly special is his first-step quickness. No one in the NFL explodes off the snap quite like the Buccaneers defensive tackle. It invokes memories of Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp. It just so happens that McCoy is now playing in a version of the scheme that helped make Sapp such a dominant player. 

As the Buccaneers' 3-technique (the defensive tackle who lines up on the outside shoulder of the guard), McCoy is asked to be consistently disruptive. It's his responsibility to be an upfield player who creates havoc in the backfield. 

NFL Game Rewind

In the above example, McCoy was already a yard-and-a-half upfield before Evans, one of the NFL's best guards, could even finish his second step. The defensive tackle lined up in the gap, burst off the football with blinding quickness and used a highly effective swim move to make Evans look foolish. The play resulted in a one-yard loss as McCoy engulfed Saints running back Khiry Robinson in the backfield. 

As Buccaneers senior writer Scott Smith mentioned on game day, Robinson didn't have a chance.  

McCoy finished Sunday's contest with two tackles, three quarterback hits and seven quarterback hurries, according to Pro Football Focus. 

The Buccaneers' top player will only get better this season as he and those around him get healthier. McCoy's biggest test of the season will come Sunday when the defensive tackle lines up across from the Baltimore Ravens guards. No duo is playing at a higher level this season than Marshal Yanda and Kelechi Osemele. It's the battle within the battle as three of the game's best go head-to-head. 

Of the 73 defensive tackles or nose guards graded by Pro Football Focus, no one is playing at a higher level than McCoy. If it weren't for an early injury during the Buccaneers' woeful start to the season, Tampa Bay's franchise player would already be in the conversation for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. McCoy will just have to continue to prove himself week in and week out. 

Because, through three full games, no individual defender has been better.

Brent Sobleski covers the NFC South for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.