T.J. fell all the way to No. 30 on Thursday, but the Pittsburgh Steelers were more than willing to find out if the Texans star was right.
Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert, always a fan of bruising, edge-bending rushers, selected the younger Watt on Thursday at the tail end of the first round. The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Watt logged 11.5 sacks last year for the Badgers along with 15.5 tackles for a loss. While not as physically imposing as his older brother, Watt seems to carry the family's trademark toughness. NFL.com's draft analyst Lance Zierlein compared him to a young Paul Kruger. He is now the third Watt in the NFL (Derek is a fullback for the Chargers).
That type of style will play well in the always-physical AFC North and allow head coach Mike Tomlin a rotational player to flip with 2015 first-rounder Bud Dupree and the ageless James Harrison. Pittsburgh will now have recent first-round picks at nearly all of their linebacker spots, cornerback and defensive end. Four of their last five first-round picks have been linebackers.
Meanwhile, the Watt family will partially reunite for a Texans-Steelers matchup this season on Christmas Day.
