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Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah has blossomed into one of the NFL's bright young pass rushers.

(Melanie Maxwell | MLive.com)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Nobody plays defense as well as J.J. Watt. Perhaps nobody plays football itself as well as J.J. Watt.

So it stands to reason it takes an awful lot to impress J.J. Watt.

And J.J. Watt is impressed.

"Ziggy Ansah is a great player," the Texans defensive end said last week. "That's a great football player there. And I told him so the other week."

Ansah is coming off a season in which he posted a career-best 14.5 sacks, only two short of Watt's NFL-best 16.5. He finished third overall, and has put himself on the periphery of the league's best pass-rushers.

So Watt, the league's undisputed King of Defense, reached out to Ansah via Twitter to congratulate him after the season ended.

"I sent him a message a couple weeks ago, and told him I think he's a great player," Watt said. "And he is."

Ansah's journey from a basketball court in Accra, Ghana -- erected with the help of Steve Young, as it happens -- to NFL stardom is well-known at this point.

He originally enrolled at BYU hoping to play basketball, and gave track a try when that didn't work out. Eventually he put on some weight, someone suggested he should give football a try, and three seasons later, with the help of an incredible showing at the combine, he was a top-five draft pick

Ansah has improved each of his three seasons with the Lions, particularly as a rush defender. But it is his prowess as a pass rusher -- where he still gets by on sheer size and athleticism -- that has made him a monster.

He has more sacks than anyone in his draft class, and was just selected to his first Pro Bowl.

"He's just a phenomenal player," star Broncos pass rusher DeMarcus Ware said. "He plays really well. I just think keep doing what he does, and (he'll be one of the best). He's gotten to that point now where, you leave him by himself, he'll make sure he'll wreak some havoc on you."

Ware said Ansah still hasn't joined the upper-crust of pass rushers in the league, noting guys such as Watt and Khalil Mack have done it more consistently. How Ansah fares now that he'll be the focal point of offensive game plans will also factor into his standing.

"I always tell those guys, no matter what, you're going to be that key guy that (offenses) need to chip, or put two or three guys on," Ware said. "But you have to be effective every single year. And that's when you become a great pass rusher.'"

Former Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest said he's amazed at how good Ansah has been with an unrefined game, and should become even more menacing once he adds to his repertoire.

"What's impressive about him is he doesn't have a lot of football background," McGinest said. "So I just see him continuing to get better and better, as he learns the game. As he adds more moves to his pass rush. He played the run great. I mean, he was physical in the trenches against the run. He's starting to use his hands. He's starting to understand his length -- he's a long guy. So keeping linemen off him, and using his hands great.

"We still haven't seen the best of him."

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