 Watt walking off field during a Steelers game in Sept. 2018. | |
| No. 90 – Pittsburgh Steelers | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Outside Linebacker |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | October 11 1994 |
| Pewaukee, Wisconsin | |
| Listed height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Listed weight: | 252 lbs (114 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
| 2017 for the Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Pewaukee (WI) |
| College: | Wisconsin |
| NFL Draft: | 2017 / Round: 1 / Pick: 30th |
| Career history | |
| |
| Roster status: Active | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
NFL records
| |
| profile at NFL.com | |
| stats at PFR | |
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 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.[1][2] He was a finalist for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019 and 2020 before winning the award in 2021. In 2021, Watt signed a four-year extension worth over $112 million, including $80 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. Despite missing two games in 2021, he tied the single-season NFL record for most quarterback sacks in a season, matching Michael Strahan's 22.5-sack record set in 2001.
College career[]
Coming out of Pewaukee High School, Watt was rated as a three-star recruit by various recruiting services.[3]
Watt started his collegiate career as a tight end recruit for the Wisconsin Badgers.[4] Watt's knee was injured in the 2014 season and he was in the recovery process until the middle of the 2015 season.[5] He also never played a game from October 2012 to September 2015.[6]
In July 2015, Watt was asked by head coach Paul Chryst to switch to a defensive position as a redshirt sophomore.[4] 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."[7] After the fourth game of his junior season, he led the Big Ten conference in sacks.[4] 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.[4]
During the 2016 season, Watt recorded 59 total tackles and 11.5 sacks.[8] Additionally, he recorded an interception and a defensive touchdown during the Badgers' game against Purdue.[9] 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.[10] On November 29, 2016, Watt was named First Team All-Big Ten.[11] 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."
Statistics[]
| Year | Team | GP | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comb | Total | Ast | Sack | Int | Yards | Avg | TD | PD | FF | FR | |||
| 2015 | Wisconsin | 8 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Wisconsin | 14 | 63 | 38 | 25 | 11.5 | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Career | 22 | 70 | 41 | 29 | 11.5 | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | |
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.[14] He attended Wisconsin's pro day, along with Dare Ogunbowale, Vince Biegel, Corey Clement, Sojourn Shelton, and six other teammates.[15] 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.[16][17] ESPN also ranked Watt the 44th best prospect available in the draft.[18]
All values from NFL Combine[19][20]| Ht | Wt | Arm lengthHand size | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 4½ in | 252 lb | 33⅛ in | 11 in | 4.69 s | 1.59 s | 2.71 s | 4.13 s | 6.79 s | 37 in | 10 ft 8 in | 21 reps |
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Watt in the first round (30th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.[21] 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.[22][23][24]
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.[25] 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.[26]
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.[27] He became the first rookie to start at linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers since Aaron Jones in 1988.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30] He tied Bud Dupree (2014) and LaMarr Woodley (2007) for the franchise record for most sacks by a rookie with his fourth.[31] 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.[32]
The Pittsburgh Steelers finished atop the AFC North with a 13–3 record and earned a playoff berth. On January 14, 2018, Watt started his first NFL playoff game and recorded two combined tackles and deflected a pass in a narrow 45–42 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Divisional Round.
References[]
- ↑ Emily Kaplan (October 12, 2016). Wisconsin’s Watt the Third. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved on February 21, 2017.
- ↑ Jeff Potrykus (August 9, 2016). T.J. Watt continues his climb with Badgers. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved on February 21, 2017.
- ↑ Ben Baby. Wisconsin LB T.J. Watt is stepping out from brother J.J.'s shadow to lead Wisconsin at Cotton Bowl. SportsDay. Retrieved on February 21, 2017.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Badgers football: T.J. Watt becoming star for UW just a year after position change", Wisconsin State Journal, September 27, 2016. Retrieved on November 1, 2016.
- ↑ Wisconsin’s Watt the Third. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved on November 1, 2016.
- ↑ NFL Network (April 5, 2017), Pass Rushers: Game Changers Ep. 2 | Watt, Allen, Harris, & Thomas | 2017 NFL Draft | NFL Network, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hejt2bDoYto, retrieved April 11, 2017
- ↑ Jesse Temple (September 29, 2016). SC on the Road: T.J. Watt carrying on a family tradition at Wisconsin. ESPN. Retrieved on February 21, 2017.
- ↑ Tyler Hunt (December 20, 2016). Wisconsin Football: Is TJ Watt Headed to the NFL Draft?. Fox Sports. Retrieved on February 21, 2017.
- ↑ Chris Bahr (December 9, 2016). Watch Wisconsin’s T.J. Watt showcase his athleticism on an incredible pick-6. Fox Sports. Retrieved on February 21, 2017.
- ↑ Jeff Potrykus (January 3, 2017). Badgers linebacker T.J. Watt leaving early for NFL. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved on February 21, 2017.
- ↑ 2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners. www.grfx.cstv.com. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved on November 30, 2016.
- ↑ "J.J. Watt's brother declares for 2017 NFL Draft: T.J. Watt is a beast, too". Retrieved on January 3, 2017.
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Retrieved on November 16, 2017.
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Retrieved on November 16, 2017.
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specifiedOwen Riese (March 15, 2017). . Retrieved on November 16, 2017.
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Retrieved on May 9, 2017.
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specifiedBucky Brooks (April 25, 2017). . Retrieved on May 24, 2017.
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Retrieved on May 9, 2017.
- ↑ 2017 NFL Combine results for former Wisconsin Badgers. Wisconsin State Journal (March 6, 2017). Retrieved on August 31, 2017.
- ↑ NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - T.J. Watt. Retrieved on August 31, 2017.
- ↑ Steelers draft T.J. Watt. Retrieved on April 27, 2017.
- ↑ Sportrac.com: T.J. Watt contract. Retrieved on June 15, 2017.
- ↑ Steelers sign No. 1 draft pick. Steelers.com (June 14, 2017). Retrieved on June 15, 2017.
- ↑ T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers Agree to Rookie Contract. BleacherReport.com.
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Retrieved on October 7, 2017.
- ↑ T.J. Watt has 2 sacks in first preseason game. Retrieved on August 11, 2017.
- ↑ Steeler's extend Brown's losing streak on opening day. Retrieved on September 10, 2017.
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Retrieved on November 16, 2017.
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specifiedRob Goldberg (September 22, 2017). . Retrieved on November 16, 2017.
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Retrieved on November 16, 2017.
- ↑ Bryan DeArdo (October 23, 2017). T.J. Watt chasing Steelers' rookie record for sacks. Retrieved on November 16, 2017.
- ↑ NFL Player stats: T.J. Watt (career). Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
