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Watt is a former tight end prospect from Central Michigan that not only lost a year of eligibility transferring to Wisconsin but also switched positions completely and turned himself into one of the better defensive end prospects in the country. Watt took to the defensive side of the ball like a duck to water and the light bulb really seemed to turn on this season, as he was second behind only Ryan Kerrigan in the Big-Ten this year with 21 tackles for a loss. Watt was able to display his disruptive nature and playing strength in Wisconsin’s Bowl game against TCU, as he was a regular in the Horned Frogs’ backfield from the opening whistle. Look for a 3-4 team to select him with a late first round pick in April.

10/26/10 - After being named the Big Ten co-Defensive Player of the Week, J.J. Watt has picked up two more honors on Tuesday. He repeated as the Lott IMPACT Player of the Week and was named the Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week. Watt continued his stellar play against tough competition, recording one sack and two tackles for loss, part of a five-tackle day against the 12th-ranked Hawkeyes. In addition, he blocked an extra point in the first quarter, which proved to be the difference in the game. It was last week that Watt had four tackles, three of which went for a loss, two sacks and one quarterback hurry as the Badgers knocked off No. 1 Ohio State. Going up against the No. 1 and No. 12 teams in the country in the last two weeks, Watt has put up nine tackles, 3.0 sacks, 5.0 TFLs, one quarterback hurry and one blocked kick.  Watt is second in the Big Ten and tied for seventh in the nation with 13.5 TFLs on the season, while his five sacks are good for third in the Big Ten. At Wisconsin, Watt leads the team in sacks, TFLs, quarterback hurries and blocked kicks and is tied for the team lead in forced fumbles and pass breakups. He sits third on the team in tackles.

BIO

2010 Midseason: Named second-team All-American by Phil Steele and SI.com and first-team All-Big Ten by Steele ... quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy ... Preseason: Named first-team All-Big Ten by Phil Steele and second-team by Athlon Sports ... named to Lott IMPACT Trophy Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Bednarik Award watch lists.

2009: Honorable mention All-Big Ten (media) ... Academic All-Big Ten

2010: Named Lott IMPACT Player of the Week and UW's co-defensive player of the week after tying career high with two sacks and had 3.0 TFLs in win over No. 1 Ohio State on Oct. 16 ... posted six tackles with one sacks and 1.5 TFLs against Minnesota on Oct. 9 ... career-high 10 tackles with 2.5 TFLs, one sack and one pass breakup at Michigan State on Oct. 2 ... tallied three tackles with 1.5 TFLs against Austin Peay on Sept. 25 ... collected one tackle, one pass breakup and three quarterback hurries against Arizona State on Sept. 18 ... named UW's defensive player of the week after blocking a field goal, recording season-high six tackles, 2.5 TFLs and one quarterback hurry against San Jose State on Sept. 11 ... forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown, broke up career-high three passes and had four tackles, including 0.5 for loss, at UNLV on Sept. 4

2009: Earned first letter ... started all 13 games at defensive end ... finished second on team in TFLs (15.5-53), pass breakups (5) and fumble recoveries (2) and third in sacks (4.5-19) ... broke up two passes, recovered one fumble, had three tackles, 2.0 TFLs, 1.0 sacks and one quarterback hurry against Miami in Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 29 ... named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after posting six tackles, 3.0 TFLs for 10, a career-high 2.0 sacks for nine yards and one quarterback hurry against Hawaii on Dec. 5 ... named UW's co-special teams player of the week after blocking a field goal and also notched three tackles against Michigan on Nov. 14 ... recorded three tackles and 1.0 TFLs against Indiana on Nov. 7 ... broke up one pass and had three tackles, including 1.0 TFLs, against Purdue on Oct. 31 ... season-high eight tackles with career-high 4.0 TFLs and had 1.0 sack against Iowa on Oct. 17 ... had three tackles and one TFL against Ohio State on Oct. 10 ... made two TFLs, part of four tackles, against Minnesota on Oct. 3 ... recovered first fumble of career and had one TFL against Michigan State on Sept. 26 ... recorded two tackles and had one pass breakup against Fresno State on Sept. 12 ... made Badger debut with six tackles, 0.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks and one pass breakup in first-career start against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5

2008: Redshirt season ... named UW's defensive scout team player of the year ... named UW's defensive scout team player of the week against Minnesota on Nov. 15, Iowa on Oct. 18 and Akron on Aug. 30

2007: (at Central Michigan): Played in all 14 games ... as a tight end, caught eight passes for 77 yards ,.. career-high two receptions for 23 yards at Kent State on Oct. 27 ... made first catch of career for nine yards at Ball State on Oct. 6

High School: First-team all-state, all-county, all-area and all-conference as both a tight end and defensive end ... named conference player and conference defensive player of the year as well as team MVP as a senior ... first-team all-state selection in track and field and was the state champion in the shot put as a senior ... first-team all-conference and all-area defensive end as a junior ... four-year letterwinner in football and also lettered in basketball, baseball and track and field ... career totals of 38 catches for 549 yards and 11 touchdowns at tight end ... made 44.5 tackles for loss, including 18 QB sacks ... National Honor Society member and high honor roll ... head coach was Clay Iverson