T. J. Watt

ESPN also ranked Watt the 44th best prospect available in the draft.

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 a groin injury.

He was declared out for Week 3 against the Chicago Bears.

Trent Jordan Watt (born October 11, 1994) is an American football linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).

He did not play a game from October 2012 to September 2015.

He was also the fourth linebacker taken in the first round by the Steelers since 2013.

Watt's knee was injured in the 2014 season, keeping him out until the middle of the 2015 season.

He tied Bud Dupree (2014) and LaMarr Woodley (2007) for the franchise record for most sacks by a rookie with his fourth.

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 ESPN, 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.

He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers before being selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft.

On January 3, 2017, Watt announced on Twitter that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2017 NFL draft.

Watt received an invitation to the NFL Scouting 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.

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Watt in the first round with the 30th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.

Watt was the fourth linebacker selected and the second outside linebacker.

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 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 NFL start in the Steelers' season-opener against the Cleveland Browns on September 10, 2017, where he recorded seven combined tackles, two sacks, and intercepted a pass from quarterback DeShone Kizer, as the Steelers won by a score of 21–18.

On October 22, 2017, Watt made six combined tackles and made his fourth sack of the season on Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton during the Steelers' 29–14 victory.

On December 10, 2017, Watt recorded his first career forced fumble when he sacked Baltimore Raven's quarterback Joe Flacco with 12 seconds remaining in the game.

The ball went out of bounds, but the game clock continued to run.

Watt was a finalist for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award four times (2019–2021, 2023).

He won the award in 2021, where he tied the single-season NFL record for most sacks, matching Michael Strahan's 22.5-sack record set in 2001.

He is the younger brother of three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J. J. Watt and fullback Derek Watt.

Watt was rated a three-star prospect by various recruiting services coming out of Pewaukee High School.

He started his collegiate career as a tight end for the Wisconsin Badgers.