Wisconsin football: T.J. Watt is in top-25 of the NFL Top 100

I don’t know if you’ve heard about this, but the Watt family of Pewaukee, Wisconsin has some pretty danged good football genes. The second member of their family has been named to the NFL Top 100 with the announcement that Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt is the No. 25 player in the whole league, according to his peers.

NFL.com notes:

Does the two-time Pro Bowler have everybody’s attention now? Watt went from barely being ranked last year (No. 93) to skyrocketing into the top 25, the type of impressive jump that must run in the family. T.J., the youngest of the Watt trio, led the AFC in sacks (14.5), tied for the league lead in forced fumbles (eight) and recorded a career-high 36 QB hits and 14 TFL. The versatile edge rusher also nabbed two All-Pro selections and a third-place finish in DPOY voting.

It is worth repeating the fact that Watt made the All-Pro team TWICE LAST SEASON, making the first team as an EDGE rusher and the second team as an OLB. That’s amazing.

In his 47 career games with the Steelers, Watt has amassed 177 tackles, 34.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, three interceptions and 18 passes defended. He hasn’t recorded a single safety yet so it might be a bit premature to say he should be in the top-20 of this list.

His final season at UW saw him produce 63 tackles, 11.5 sacks, one pick (returned for a touchdown) and two forced fumbles before deciding to declare early for the NFL Draft where he was selected by the Steelers.