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It’s been a fantastic career start for Detroit Lions defensive end James Houston, and the excellence rolled on during Week 15.
Houston, who had started with a bang in his first few games, got yet another sack in the first half against the New York Jets and made some more fantastic NFL history.
Now, Houston has joined some impressive company with his fourth-consecutive game with a sack. Terrell Suggs of Baltimore and Santana Dotson were the other two to accomplish the feat, and both combined to have fantastic NFL careers.
CBS Sports tweeted about the fact that Houston had joined elite company with his streak of consecutive games with a sack to start his career.
“Most consecutive games to start career with a sack since it was tracked (1982). 2022 James Houston: 4 (active). 2003 Terrell Suggs: 4. 1992 Santana Dotson: 4. A star is born (in) James Houston,” the site tweeted.
That duo combined for 188 sacks in the league, so that’s big company for Houston to keep.
As for the play, it was a beauty. Houston busted in on Zach Wilson uncontested on a third and two and swallowed the Jets’ quarterback up. That forced a punt from New York, and snuffed out a drive.
Houston continues to dominate to start his career, and now, he is up there with a couple of sack masters in terms with his early production. That is significant as he starts his career and keeps it going.
It seems there is another milestone weekly for Houston, and this is just another one for the Lions’ youngster.
Houston’s Emergence Could Change Lions Draft
Many have assumed that the Lions could look to a defensive lineman to start the draft in 2023. While that could still be the case with elite names like Will Anderson Jr. and Jalen Carter, the need may have come into more focus.
Houston’s emergence has meant that the team might not longer need to look at a pass rusher early in the draft, and could instead hone in on a top clogger in the middle, someone with rare athletic traits such as Carter from Georgia.
Julius P. Scott tweeted about his observation, that perhaps the Lions didn’t need to go for Anderson given Houston coming up.
“Well, this now needs to be said. The Lions don’t need to draft Will Anderson because they have two elite pass rushers in Aidan Hutchinson and James Houston. Go get Jalen Carter instead,” Scott tweeted.
Carter has the look of a top-five pick, so if the Lions could get their hands on a guy who has put up 80 tackles and six sacks in his career, that would be massive. Many see his as the perfect complement to what the Lions already have up front.
Houston, Hutchinson Defensive Building Blocks
When the future is discussed, it’s hard not to think about how good the Lions may have things with names like Houston and Aidan Hutchinson both in the mix.
So far this year, Hutchinson has been a force for the Lions with six sacks on the year to go with 33 tackles. The Lions seem to have the makings of what looks like a good thing, and fans seem to understand that. In one game, Houston and Hutchinson combined for 1.5 sacks.
Fan Chad Turcsak tweeted his hope that the duo becomes one of the best pass rushing pairs in the league defensively.
“The Lions have the top two rookie sack leaders in Aidan Hutchinson and James Houston. I hope these two are a problem for years to come!!!,” he tweeted.
Indeed, Detroit’s du continues to pile up the sacks, and have combined for a total of 13 as the team’s Twitter account pointed out during the game.
“With James Houston’s sack today, Lions rookies have now combined for 13.0 sacks this season. This establishes a new franchise record for combined sacks by Lions rookies,” the site tweeted.
Given Houston’s emergence and Hutchinson’s steady play for the team, there’s no reason that the Lions can’t have two of the best young pass rushers in the league. It will be fun to see what happens in the future with these players on defense.
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