It’s no secret that Jim Harbaugh thinks highly of Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. The B1G’s Defensive Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy finalist brought the kind of energy the Wolverines needed to win a conference title and reach the College Football Playoff.

Throughout the course of Michigan’s impressive 12-2 season, Harbaugh often praised Hutchinson for his hard work and leadership. Now, the head coach is promoting the defensive end as one of the best players in this year’s NFL Draft.

In a recent radio interview, Harbaugh compared Hutchinson to former Wisconsin and current NFL star JJ Watt.

“Relentless, he’s a relentless player,” Harbaugh said in an interview on Sports Radio 610 in Houston. “He does not take a play off. It’s every single play. He’s all out and then I watched him in practice, he’s the same way every single day. You know, it’s kind of interesting. Our strength coach, Ben Herbert, was a strength coach at Wisconsin and he’s been asked that same question, I asked him too, ‘Who would you compare him to?’ He said he would compare him to the Watt brothers. So J.J. Watt is who he compares him to. There’s nobody else that he would compare to agent Aidan Hutchinson in his mind. He was somebody that was with them both as a strength coach at Michigan and Wisconsin.”

Hutchinson ended the 2021 season with 62 tackles, 14 sacks and 12 quarterback hurries. He was named an All-American, received B1G Defensive Lineman and Defensive Player of the Year awards and was a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Now, the defensive end is expected to be one of the top picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.