2011 NFL Draft: Why J.J. Watt Is the Best Defensive Lineman in the Draft

Da'quan Bowers, Robert Quinn, Marcell Dareus, Nick Fairley, Cameron Jordan, Stephen Paea...Marvin Austin? These players have all been labelled by various "draft experts" as one of the best, or even THE best, defensive lineman in the upcoming 2011 NFL draft.

However, they all seem to forget J.J. Watt, the Wisconsin stand out who is the best defensive lineman no one is talking about. More than that, after his astounding combine performance he is now poking his head above the rest as the best defensive lineman in this highly talented draft.

For starters, when you see Watt on game tape he really stands out, and not because of his 6'6" height. He plays with a non-stop motor, uses his long arms and powerful hands well and has a varied array of pass rushing moves, including the spin move.

He gets off the ball surprisingly well for a man of his size and while not an elite perimeter rushing threat and at least threaten there, which keeps linemen off guard when he spins inside, rips inside or bull rushes straight at them.

Watt also has great strength, which allows him to play as an anchor in the run game. He is not great at slipping past blocks, but will learn that in time as he does have great length.

His instincts are great, and he is a high character guy who works hard on improving and staying in great shape. He has long (34") arms which allows him to keep offensive tackles away from him, and at 290 pounds has enough bulk to fill running lanes and go pound for pound with a lot of offensive linemen.

Now that I have run through my scouting report of Watt, I will rise mention to his impressive combine performance. With the exception of Da'quan Bowers, every other top defensive lineman competed, and were all outdone by Watt.

J.J. was the fifth-best bench presser (34 reps) for his position and the ninth-best sprinter (4.84) over 40 yards for defensive linemen. This is very impressive for a 290-lb man, as he should be too heavy to compete with the 270 pound speed rushing defensive ends but also too light to compete with the 310-plus pound defensive tackles in the bench press.

However, the drills that matter the most for a defensive lineman are the vertical jump, broad jump, three-cone drill and the 20-yard shuttle. The first two are testing for lower body explosion, which shows how fast and powerfully they can get off the line, and the last two require agility and the ability to maintain speed while taking corners.

This parallels with accelerating away from beaten offensive linemen and getting around the corner of a defensive tackle. In these drills, Watt placed first in the vertical jump and three-cone drill for defensive linemen, and second in the 20-yard shuttle and the broad jump.

These measurables are out of this world, especially since his only real "failure" was the 40-yard dash. This is easily overlooked though. How many times does a defensive lineman have to sprint for 40 yards in a straight line?

Also Watt is a jack of all trades who will be effective in both the 3-4 and 4-3 defenses, as a five-technique defensive end and three-technique defensive tackle or as a left defensive end in the 4-3. This versatility makes him valuable to a team as to be able to play all these positions he needs to be able to anchor against the run and penetrate into the backfield.

The combination of Watt's solid performance over his career at Wisconsin, his outstanding combine showing and his combination of a high ceiling and the current ability to contribute as a rookie makes him without a doubt the best defensive lineman in the draft.

While saying this, I am also aware that Watt is not going to go in the top five, while chance are high that Bowers, Fairley, Dareus and maybe even Quinn will be. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, both Quinn and Bowers are more athletic pass rushers than Watt, and with pass rush commanding such a premium these days, they will be highly valued.

Secondly, while he can play at many positions, he is the best fit in a 3-4 defense as a pass-rushing defensive end. At the top of the draft there are only two 3-4 defenses in the top five picks, and the Arizona Cardinals have both defensive end spots nailed down with Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell.

Watch out for J.J. Watt in the future. Although he may never be a statistical demon like Bowers or Quinn he will fight hard in the trenches for his team, and make their defensive line one to be reckoned with day in day out.