Somewhere, in the sea of hype surrounding Reggie Bush and Vince Young, Mario Williams has emerged as the strongest impact-player in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Sure, Vince had a Pro Bowl appearance his first year, Reggie has the endorsements, and Joseph Addai and Laurence Moroney are key components of already-strong teams, but Super Mario has delivered on the promise that made Charley Casserly risk his job to pick him first overall. Casserly didn't survive to see Williams blossom like he has this season, but history will certainly treat this decision a lot more kindly than any outraged Texans fan on draft day would have.

Let's break down the numbers: this year, Williams has been dominant as the catalyst behind the Texans' resurgent defensive line. The addition of rookie Abomi Okoye has forced opposing teams to decide which monster they want to double-team, thereby opening Williams' ability to get into the backfield and make plays. The results have been stunning: Williams has already broken Kailee Wong's franchise sack record with 8.5, and there are still yet four games to go in the season. He's performed particularly well against the players who Texans fans usually wish he was; against the Titans this Sunday, he sacked Vince Young 2.5 times, and against Reggie Bush earlier this season, he recorded four tackles of Bush alone. Not too shabby for a supposed disaster. Hell, one of these days, Richard Justice might even notice that he's performing well.

Williams has also been resistant to the injury bug to which many Texans players have succumbed this season. After some early character questions tied to his lead foot and his $200k sports car, he's been a model citizen and one of the Texans' PR stars. The past couple of Texans drafts have all netted strong defensive role players, and if this trend continues, the team could end up with its first winning season by building on the Baltimore Ravens' model of defensive dominance. With Williams, Okoye, DeMeco Ryans, Fred Bennett, a healthy Dunta Robinson, and whatever offseason additions are made, the 2008 Texans defense will be a force to reckon with.

Super Mario is on course for his first Pro Bowl this season, and is one of the few reasons to keep watching the Texans in 2007. To make sure that Mario has the benefit of a free week in Hawaii to play in the most boring All-Star game in American professional sports, follow this link to vote for him (and Andre Johnson and DeMeco Ryans) for the Pro Bowl.

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photo: flickr user presson_on