In the last several days, there has been plenty of momentum building around Houston Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt being primed to put together a huge bounce-back 2018 campaign.

This has quickly led to the 29-year-old currently being the betting favorite by Las Vegas to win his fourth NFL Defensive Player of Year of his illustrious career, according to Jon Machota of Dallas News.

His chances to earn the award lie firmly on his health as he's making his way back from a broken leg that cost him 11 games last season and marked the second straight campaign that was ended prematurely due to injury. In fact, he has missed a total of 24 contests over the last two seasons due to a pair of back surgeries and a tibial plateau fracture in his left leg. Keep in mind; he hadn't missed a game in his career before that.

However, his rate of recovery has highly encouraged his teammates and coaching staff that has led to head coach Bill O'Brien to state that Watt is performing at a Defensive Player of the Year level in the offseason and training camp. The Pro Bowler has also stated that it is one of his primary goals to prove that he can still play at an elite level despite nagging injuries hampering him.

Before that, Watt indeed proved that he was the unquestioned best defensive player in the NFL with a four-year stretch where he notched double-digit sacks in each campaign, topping 17.5 sacks three times, and was the first player to record at least 20 sacks multiple times.

If he's able to channel that level of performance in any capacity, it should bode exceptionally well for his chances to break the tie with Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor by winning the prestigious award a fourth time.