To listen to J.J. Watt describe his journey into being an analyst on television, perhaps the person most surprised that he’s been so successful, let alone that he’s working in the media at all, is himself. Watt was visiting Texans’ practice last week, when he found himself doing an impromptu press conference after practice, in which he talked about how unlikely his journey into media has been:

J.J. Watt pumped to join CBS broadcast booth.

“When I was playing I said I’d never be an analyst. … And then I retired and I realized: ‘son of a b*tch, I really love this game.’”

Watt will be paired with Ian Eagle for CBS’ No. 2 broadcast in the fall.

Fun clips ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Tm1WaVQ5iF

— Michael Shapiro (@mshap2) June 11, 2025 Now, after a couple of seasons as a part time studio analyst on CBS, along with doing game analyst work on Netflix’s Christmas Day broadcast of Steelers-Chiefs last winter, Watt is primed to take over color analyst duties on CBS’ NFL number two broadcast team on Sunday game days. He will be paired with the great Ian Eagle, who will be handling play by play duties.

Make no mistake, this is a big step up for Watt, as he zips past a lot of the current color analysts in the figurative “career HOV lane.” I think he will do great. The question, given the fact that CBS largely carries AFC games, is “How many Texans games might Watt end up calling?” The fact that he’s on the B-team, behind only the team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, means that he is calling games involving teams that are right around where the Texans currently stack up — not frontline Super Bowl contenders, but definite playoff teams.

The strange thing about the Texans’ 2025 schedule is that they play relatively few games on CBS, for an AFC team. They play four games on FOX, along with prime time games on NBC, Prime, and two on ESPN networks. Also, the games in Weeks 17 and 18 have yet to be slotted, as the league will assign networks and kickoff times to those games as the season winds down.

This leaves seven games, for now, on CBS, so here they are, ranked in my own subjective, ascending order of probability that Watt winds up on the call:

7. Week 3, at Jags, Noon
6. Week 4, vs Titans, Noon
The Houston Texans are the only team in the AFC South that, on paper, heads into the season worthy of at least the number two announce team on CBS, so I doubt that Week 3 and Week 4 games with the two teams that picked first and second in last spring’s draft warrant J.J. Watt and Ian Eagle on the call.

5. Week 16, vs Raiders, 3:25 p.m.
The Raiders are potentially a sneaky team this season, after trading for QB Geno Smith, but more than likely, this will be a playoff bound Texans team playing a Raiders team whose season is functionally over.

4. Week 10, vs Jags, Noon
3. Week 13, at Colts, Noon
Now, we are getting into some AFC South foes a little later in the season, so they’ll have had a chance to prove themselves worthy of having Watt and Eagle on the call in a matchup with the Texans. If Liam Coen’s coaching takes hold with QB Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville, this Week 10 matchup at NRG Stadium could be for control of the AFC South. Similarly, if the Colts just get average QB play, from either Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson, they’ll hang around into Week 13 in the division.

2. Week 5, at Ravens, Noon
This is a matchup of one of the more lopsided regular season games last season, a 31-2 drubbing by the Ravens on the Texans. Early in the season, this will still be viewed as two division leaders facing off in a battle of two marquee quarterbacks.

1. Week 1, at Rams, 3:25 p.m.
The very first Texans game of the season might be Watt’s first effort as color analyst on CBS. The Rams were a playoff team last season, and have high hopes for a return to the Super Bowl, four years after winning in 2021.

Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.