Come draft time, teams are always looking to find a diamond in the rough. That undervalued piece other teams don’t recognize.
Houston Texans star J.J. Watt thinks he found one during the 2019 NFL Draft.
During the first round, a group of 13 Nashville high school football players were honored on stage by the Tennessee Titans.
One caught the eye of Watt. Standing 6-foot-2-inch at 344-pounds, Elijah Simmons sauntered on stage and towered over Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Simmons, known as Big E, is the captain of the Pearl Cohn Musical Magnet High School (Nashville, Tenn.) football team, according to WKRN.
Watt thinks he’s someone NFL teams should have their eyes on.
Can we draft #72 from the Tennessee metro high school team? Kid looks like a beast.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) April 26, 2019
One of the best players in the game vying for his team to draft you? Getting called a beast by the three-time Defensive Player of the Year?
“After we walked back to the area we were sitting, there a few of the players told me that J.J. tweeted about it and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh it’s crazy,'” Simmons said to WKRN.
“A lot of people say that, but for J.J. Watt to say that, it’s something way bigger.”
Simmons respond to Watt’s tweet reverently.
🔥👌🏾Trying to get like you my man🔥👌🏾
— Elijah simmons (@901_hollywood_e) April 26, 2019
But so did the University of Tennessee, where the three-star defensive tackle is signed to play next season.
Sorry, we’ll have @901_hollywood_e for the next couple of years. #PoweredByTheT https://t.co/xaCYy7dkQh
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) April 26, 2019
But after those next couple years? He’s all yours, J.J. Assuming another team doesn’t pick the young fella first.
