Leonard Williams is considered a top-five pick in this NFL draft, and he likely will be, but study of his game film reveals some pros and cons that need to be carefully considered and evaluated.
The pros, and why he’s considered a top pick, are clear. Williams, at 6-foot-5, 302 pounds, is long with plus athleticism and good movement for a big defensive lineman. You can see from his game film at USC that he’s competitive with an excellent playing personality. At times, lining up predominantly as a “5 technique” defensive end in USC’s 3-4 defense (and sometimes as a sub-package defensive tackle) Williams showed relentless power, methodically driving an offensive lineman back into the quarterback.
The more I watched Williams, the more I believed the most impressive part of his game was his strong hands. He has active and violent hands, which is key at his position. Match that with his light, athletic feet and his size, and you can see the positives that teams like.
But there’s an important question with Williams: What do teams think he can become with development and coaching? That’s a key question, because I see some things he needs to work on as well. The first issue I want to address is his position, because I’m not sure of it.
Williams is not as naturally explosive off the ball as a true “3 technique” defensive tackle like Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Gerald McCoy. Can Williams play “3 technique” in the NFL? At this point he does not have the strength or natural power of a “5 technique” like Richard Seymour did. In my opinion he’s not as explosive as an interior defender as Sheldon Richardson was coming out of Missouri or Sharrif Floyd was coming out of Florida.
Williams did flash leverage and power inside at defensive tackle, especially with his strong hands. At this point I think he can align at defensive end in a 3-4 front and strong-side defensive end in 4-3 front but he’s not an edge pass rusher. He is not a natural pass rusher from inside defensive tackle position, he would need to be taught how to do that.
There are points to his game itself that need refinement, as well. A key to Williams’ game is leverage, When he stayed low he showed the ability to play with power and quickness. But he has a tendency to play high off the ball, which minimized his leverage and strength. He showed a tendency to give offensive linemen his chest, which negated any leverage as a run defender and any power as a pass rusher. Whether he can learn to play lower is a critically important question. If he continues to play too high, that will cause problems in the NFL.
Another issue that needs to be examined is Williams’ consistency. Against Arizona State, for example, he showed an excellent inside pass rush: He came off the ball low, used his hands effectively and showed his quick and athletic feet. Other games he didn’t show that. Against Boston College he was exposed at times by their option game; he was physically unable to make plays when he was schematically in position, but he did not play well in space as he lacked both spatial and functional awareness. In other games there were too many snaps in which he was moved by double teams, and did not hold the point with leverage and/or power.
Williams is being projected as a top-five pick, and many think he can go as high as No. 2 overall. There are reasons to think he could develop into a player worthy of that pick. There are also things that, based on studying his film at USC, he will need to develop once he lands with an NFL team.
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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.
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