J.J. Watt’s got yet another brother who’s about to join the NFL

J.J. Watt made the jump from Wisconsin to the Texans in 2011, when he was the NFL draft’s 11th pick. His brother and fellow Badger, Derek, was a sixth-round selection by the Chargers last year. Now a third UW Watt brother is on his way to the league: T.J.

T.J. Watt is a linebacker and is expected to come off the board in the late first or early second round. He’s probably going to be a pretty good player in his own right.

There are only three brothers in the family, so there’s no Cooper Manning — a brother who’s successful but doesn’t play football — here. Parents Connie and John are about to be batting 1.000 at raising NFL sons.

Being J.J. would mean being the best defensive player in the world. But T.J.’s a good prospect who’s seen his stock rise in recent months. He’ll get drafted on his own merits, not just because he shares genes with the NFL’s most dominant end.

“J.J. and T.J. are alike in a lot of ways — in their personalities, in their body frames,” a former coach told The New York Times in 2014.

At J.J.’s NFL Scouting Combine in 2011, he measured in at 6’5 and 290 pounds, with a 34-inch arm length and 11.125-inch hands. He ran a 4.84-second 40-yard dash and did 34 bench reps.

At T.J.’s in March, he was 6’4 and 252 pounds, with a 33.25-inch arm length and 11-inch hands. He ran a 4.69-second 40 and repped 21 times.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper said:

He did great at the combine. What you expected, Hannah. 6’4.5, 252 pounds. Long arms, huge hands, runs under 4.7. Vertical’s 37 inches, strong kid. Now with his hand on the ground, he can beat that offensive tackle out of his stance in the Big Ten. Had all the numbers, all the productivity you would want. Injury issues as well; medical’s going to be important for T.J. Watt.

I think if that checks out OK, Hannah, the medical part, I think T.J. Watt, because of the combine and the productivity and the pass-rush talent that he shows and the ability to play on his feet in a 3-4, I think T.J. Watt could maybe land in the late first round, no worse than the early to mid-second round.

T.J. had 11.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss for UW in 2016, before he declared for the draft with a year of eligibility remaining. J.J. had seven sacks and 21 TFLs in his junior season, 2010, before he declared for the draft.

Here’s T.J. batting a throw into the air, intercepting it, and scoring a touchdown in a game last season against Purdue:

And here’s J.J. doing more or less the same thing in 2015:

The Watt brothers share some traits, with the primary difference (other than their number of Pro Bowls) being J.J.’s profile as a lineman and T.J.’s as a linebacker. There are worse players for T.J. to be like.