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MAQB: Familiarity With Vance Joseph Was Key in J.J. Watt Joining the Cardinals

Combine week is now behind us, only without a combine. We’re on to this week’s MAQB …

Brett Rojo/USA TODAY Sports (Herman); Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports (Wilson); Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports (Watt)

• The first thing to take note of on the J.J. Watt signing in Arizona is the importance of familiarity. My understanding is Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph ran point on the Watt recruitment, which makes sense, since Joseph was the Texans’ secondary coach during Watt’s first three NFL seasons. That the two had a relationship made a difference, as did the system that Joseph is running, which is virtually the same one Houston ran back then, with carryover all the way down to the verbiage.