NFL Draft: Re-drafting every first-round pick from 2017 NFL Draft
T.J. Watt. 3. player. 42. . OLB. San Francisco 49ers
NFL Draft: Re-drafting every first-round pick from 2017 NFL Draft: 3, OLB T.J. Watt
Originally selected 30th overall (+27)
At first, T.J. Watt was more known for his name, as opposed to his game. With his brother, J.J. Watt, terrorizing quarterbacks in the league, T.J. had mighty big shoes to fill.
With that said, he’s doing one helluva job doing so. Originally, Myles Garrett was the first defensive player taken off the board, and by all accounts, he’s been great but he hasn’t been Watt. His seven sacks 54 tackles and 13 quarterback hits were enough to get him a spot on the All-Rookie Team but not enough to earn him Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Instead of moping around about it, Watt used it as fuel to his fire. For the next three seasons, Watt registered double-digit sack seasons and 50 plus tackles. In his last two, he was chosen as a First-Teamer on the All-Pro squad. The Pittsburgh Steelers were lucky to get their hands on him with the 30th pick at the end of the first round in 2017.
Although he’s been nearly flawless during the regular season, his postseason play needs to be addressed. In two games, he has yet to record a sack and has only five tackles to his name. Still, he has plenty of time to rewrite his postseason story. With the way everything is shaking out, Watt appears to be the best defensive player in the 2017 NFL Draft, which is saying a lot considering how loaded the field is.