Colts 2019 season awards: Best defensive player

We continue to dole out awards for the good and the bad of the 2019 season. Today we look at the best defensive player on the team.

By and large, the defensive was worse than it was a year ago. The last half of the season showed that for sure, as they were torched through the air in a bunch of losses. But one player was very good throughout the whole year and gave consistent effort every game.

That player is Justin Houston. Houston was signed to a two-year deal in the offseason after spending the bulk of his career with the Chiefs. He was one of only two high-profile free agents signed, along with Devin Funchess. While Funchess faltered, Houston thrived.

Houston was brought in to rush the passer, and rush the passer he did. Houston led the team in sacks with 11 and was the only consistent threat to rush the passer all year long. He had a total of 44 yards passing and 13 tackles for loss and a safety as well.

Even at the age of 30, Houston still showed he has plenty of gas left in the tank. He can still be an elite player. It was a shame that the rest of the defense couldn’t take advantage of his pass rushing abilities. The secondary needs to get better to help the defensive line.

It will be interesting to see what the rest of the defense does around Houston next season. Houston can take solace that he was the best player on the defense, even better than Darius Leonard.