T. J. Watt

Trent Jordan "T. J." Watt (born October 11, 1994) is an American football outside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Steelers in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He is the younger brother of professional football players J. J. Watt and Derek Watt.

College career
Coming out of Pewaukee High School, Watt was rated as a three-star recruit by various recruiting services.

Watt started his collegiate career as a tight end recruit for the Wisconsin Badgers. Watt's knee was injured in the 2014 season and he was in the recovery process until the middle of the 2015 season. He also never played a game from October 2012 to September 2015.

In July 2015, Watt was asked by head coach Paul Chryst to switch to a defensive position as a redshirt sophomore. Badgers' outside linebackers coach Tim Tibesar recalled Watt's position change saying, "At that time, even though he was in his third fall at Wisconsin, it was kind of like having a freshman come in. You're trying to teach him for the first time how to play outside 'backer in our system." After the fourth game of his junior season, he led the Big Ten conference in sacks. In the Michigan State game, he was named the Big Ten Player of the Week and was given the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week Award.

During the 2016 season, Watt recorded 59 total tackles and 11.5 sacks. Additionally, he recorded an interception and a defensive touchdown during the Badgers' game against Purdue. Watt also received first team All-American honors by Sports Illustrated and second team honors by The Associated Press for his play during the 2016 season. On November 29, 2016, Watt was named First Team All-Big Ten. On January 3, 2017, Watt announced on Twitter that he would forgo his senior season and will be entering the 2017 NFL Draft, stating "'After thinking over the options and discussing them with my family, I have decided that the time has come to continue my journey and declare for the 2017 NFL Draft. This decision was by no means an easy one, but I feel that it is the right decision for me at this time. Thank you to all of my teammates, coaches and you fans for the incredible memories. Once a Badger, always a Badger.'"

Professional career
Watt received an invitation to the NFL Combine as one of the top edge rushers in the draft and completed all the combine drills. Among linebackers, Watt finished second in the vertical jump and three-cone drill, tied for first in the broad jump (with Jabrill Peppers), and also tied for first in the short shuttle. He attended Wisconsin's pro day, along with Dare Ogunbowale, Vince Biegel, Corey Clement, Sojourn Shelton, and six other teammates. Green Bay Packers' General Manager Ted Thompson and Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin were among the 65 team representatives and scouts present for his pro day as Pittsburgh Steelers' linebacker's coach Joey Porter, Carolina Panthers' and New York Jets' outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene led Watt's positional drills. The majority of NFL draft experts and analysts projected Watt to be a late first round or second round pick. He was ranked the second best outside linebacker in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, ranked the fourth best outside linebacker by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks, and was ranked the ninth best edge rusher by Sports Illustrated. ESPN also ranked Watt the 44th best prospect available in the draft.

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Watt in the first round (30th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. Watt was the fourth linebacker selected and the second outside linebacker. He is also the fourth linebacker taken in the first round by the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2013.

2017
On June 14, 2017, the Steelers signed Watt to a fully guaranteed, four-year, $9.25 million contract with a signing bonus of $4.87 million.

He entered training camp competing with James Harrison for the starting right outside linebacker position. Watt was named the Pittsburgh Steelers' starting right outside linebacker to begin the regular season. Watt saw action in the NFL for the first time in the team's first preseason game against the New York Giants, where he made two sacks in the 20–12 victory.

Watt made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Pittsburgh Steelers' season-opener against the Cleveland Browns on September 10, 2017, where he recorded seven combined tackles, two sacks, and one interception, which came off of quarterback DeShone Kizer, as the Steelers won by a score of 21–18. He recorded his first career sack, tackle, and interception during the game and returned the interception for 17-yards. He became the first rookie to start at linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers since Aaron Jones in 1988. The following week, he assisted on two tackles before leaving during the first half of the Steelers' 26–9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings with groin injury. He was declared out for Week 3. On October 22, 2017, Watt made six combined tackles and made his fourth sack of the season on Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback Andy Dalton during the Steelers' 29–14 victory. He tied Bud Dupree (2014) and LaMarr Woodley (2007) for the franchise record for most sacks by a rookie with his fourth. Watt finished his rookie season with 54 combined tackles (40 solo), seven pass deflections, seven sacks, and an interception in 15 games and 15 starts.