Kansas City Chiefs: Justin Houston is still an elite defender

Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston is still playing at an elite level. Will he earn more respect from fans in 2018?

The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the best all-around defenders in the league with outside linebacker Justin Houston. That was proven when former general manager John Dorsey refused to pay the young edge rusher and allowed Houston to prove it in 2014 where he took down the quarterback 22 times. Dorsey was forced to pay him big money worth six years and $101 million.

Unfortunately, since signing his contract, fans have lost love when it comes to Houston. During his first season under contract in 2015, Houston suffered an injury late in the season that carried over much into the 2016 season. It wasn’t until late in the 2016 season that Houston was able to look like himself again and by then, opposite outside linebacker Dee Ford had gone down with an injury of his own.

The 2017 season was the first time we have seen Houston play a full season since the contract and many fans were not satisfied with his performance. Coming away with 9.5 sacks was the most significant let down for many fans. Not hitting the double-digit mark in sacks has fans ready to call Houston overrated.

Let’s not forget the help that Houston has had opposite of him or even on the defensive line. Dee Ford was done early in the season, Tamba Hali barely saw the field the entire year due to his knees, and second-round pick Tanoh Kpassagnon was too raw to throw out there without being a liability. So who did the Chiefs deploy opposite of Houston? That’s right, Frank Zombo.

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Over the last five seasons, Zombo has been the backup that would come in on early downs once in a while to relieve a pass rusher. He has stuck around because he knows the defense. While decent against the run, Zombo is a below average pass rusher with just one moving which is the bull rush.

Looking along the defensive line, the only help that Houston saw from this unit was defensive end Chris Jones last season. Like Houston, Jones saw a great deal of extra attention last season without much help. Players like Allen Bailey and Bennie Logan were almost unheard of when it came to getting after the passer making it easy for offenses to gameplan for Jones and Houston.

When discussing Houston, often the discussion of Denver Broncos edge rusher Von Miller being the best pass rusher in the league comes up. I would agree that Miller likely has a bit of an edge on Houston when it comes to getting after the quarterback given his bend around the edge, but I feel that Houston is a more well-rounded player.

The reason that bringing up Miller confuses me is that he had just .5 sacks more than Houston did in 2017. Miller was also not dropped into coverage like Houston was last season. Houston was asked to cover up numerous holes in the defense in 2017 that took away from his pass rushing attempts.

Without safety Eric Berry roaming the field, defensive coordinator Bob Sutton had Houston dropping into coverage often in 2017 to help a poor secondary. There was also the fact that inside linebacker Derrick Johnson had clearly taken a step backward that Houston had to make up for. With all of these holes on defense, Houston was one of the very few good performers for Kansas City last year on that side of the ball.

Without having someone even average on the opposite side of the line, even the best of pass rushers can be limited. Just look at Von Miller last year who recorded only ten sacks, once again only .5 more than Houston. He is still considered elite. Miller had little to no help from the opposite side following the retirement of former edge rusher Demarcus Ware.

Kansas City needs to find Houston some help this season from the other side and along the defensive line. It will be interesting to see where that help comes from. Will it be Tanoh Kpassagnon who made some good strides in development last season? Could it be new second-round pick Breeland Speaks? Will Dee Ford actually contribute and how much?

Regardless, Houston is going to need help if he is going to put up more sack numbers and even get more rushing attempts. He currently sits just 20 sacks behind Tamba Hali’s career sack totals which could be achieved in the next two seasons if he stays productive. Two ten sack seasons would tie that number.

It’s important to realize that reaching 22 sacks is something that doesn’t happen that often. In fact, only four players in NFL history have reached that number. The highest number in 2017 was 17 sacks by Chandler Jones. While I would like to see Houston achieve more sacks, I also realize that he is being used as an all-around player instead of just getting after the passer and without help.

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Justin Houston is still one of the best edge rushers in the league and arguably the best at playing against the run at the same time. He’s also someone that can drop into coverage and do decent there. Sutton needs to utilize Houston as a weapon this season instead of someone to cover up other weaknesses. That’s the only chance we will get everything out of him in 2018.

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