Houston Texans: Top 30 players in franchise history

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Whitney Mercilus of the Houston Texans (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

. LB. (2012-Present). Whitney Mercilus. 18. player. 10

Whitney Mercilus has been the face of consistency and reliability for some time now. Nearly no one has outworked Mercilus during his time as a Texan. The defense wouldn’t be the same without him.

He, like Connor Barwin, was kind of a one-year wonder in college. His junior year at Illinois saw him rack up 22.5 sacks. The Texans selected him in the first round with hopes that he would turn into a top-tier pass rusher.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t quite turned into that elite pass rusher, but he has been indispensable to this defense. When the team needs some oomph in the pass rush, Mercilus is there. When the team needs to gusto in the run game, Mercilus is there. When the team needs a guy to drop into coverage, Mercilus is there.

So, sure he isn’t the elite pass rusher you expect in the first round, but he is a jack-of-all-trades that this defense needs. For his career, he’s amassed 52 sacks, over 300 total pressures and 169 tackles for loss.

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