Owen PustellThis article marks a continuation in the series highlighting the changing of the guard in Rebel football. I will be taking to the film in order to watch, breakdown and evaluate notable Ole Miss athletes who have either declared for the draft or are transferring into the program.
Stat Breakdown
Listed H/W/P: 6’4”, 265 lbs, EDGE
Pro Comparison: Trey Hendrickson
In a Nutshell: Using a great array of pass rush moves as well as heavy hands in the run game, Sam Williams was able to put together an impressive 12.5-sack season. Despite playing a variety of roles last season, he projects best as a true edge defender working out of a five technique, or even pushing out to be a true nine.
Strengths
Primarily, Williams has absolutely terrific hand usage, which is particularly clear when he is able to pass rush from the edge. He has a variety of moves, which means that tackles cannot sit on one move without having to worry about a counter, however most of his success stems from his speed. He is fast enough to beat most tackles around the edge, which can force QBs to step up in the pocket and into interior pressure. There are a few cases where Williams was able to run around the tackle and get a free shot at the QB, but that is unlikely to happen in the NFL. This is not a cause for concern, as he also plays with a good amount of power in his frame. This means that once a tackle starts getting comfortable sitting up in his stance to gain more ground from their kickstep, he can turn the speed into a dangerous bull rush.
Being able to work both of these successfully is extremely important for the success of any defensive lineman. It means he is able to not only set up moves on individual reps by comboing his power to speed or vice versa, but he can work over the course of the game to set up a single successful rush in a key moment. For example, imagine Williams is playing a really strong tackle and decides to work a bull to rip move for most of the game while mixing in a push/pull or inside counter. The tackle is going to start getting comfortable dealing with those, and once Williams realizes he is overcommitting, he can change it up and go for a bull to speed or speed to chop. Versatility is something that I think is extremely valuable in football and especially the NFL. Only a few elite players are going to be able to dominate with the same thing week in and week out, so being able to mix it up forces opponents to respect all aspects of your game and opens up the door for your most successful moves.
Against the run, Williams showed outstanding strength and was able to generate lots of power at the point of attack, pushing lineman into the backfield and dominating tight ends. Once again, the scheme did not help him as he was often in a 3/4 alignment with no edge help. This puts him at a disadvantage because his outside shoulder is covered by the tackle and he faces a strong double team without help setting the edge. To beat this, Williams typically would just fire violently into whatever offensive player was in front of him, get into the backfield, and shed the blocker to make a play on the back. For the most part, he was successful with this (watch the A&M film) but at the next level you certainly want to see him improve on reading and occupying gaps. However, once he was able to get into the backfield, he did a very good job of forcing cutbacks with either himself or his blocker, and making a tackle on the running back. He also seems to have a very good feel for backside pursuit angles and was able to successfully make tackles on running plays headed away from him. Athletically, Williams also seems to check the boxes. He was impressive in his pursuit of quarterbacks (third most sacks for an FBS player) and chased down both Malik Willis and Malik Cunningham, both of whom are very legitimate running threats. He even had a play where he forced a fumble, scooped it up and returned it for a touchdown.
Weaknesses
The largest question mark for Williams revolves around his scheme in college. He was rarely deployed on the outside (where I personally think he projects best) but showed the skills you want while playing as a dime defensive end.
He will need to control the edge at the next level, which his power and athleticism will help greatly with, but he will need to control himself when getting upfield. Williams has a tendency to get far upfield in his pass rush if he goes with speed, which can open up a lane for the quarterback to scramble out of or step up and have more room to make a throw. In order to remedy this, Williams could work on improving his hip flexibility and rip moves. He did showcase the ability to perform both of these, but too many times you can see him get overconfident in his speed and try to blow by the tackle. Keeping his hips loose means that he is able to turn the corner better, which is essentially when you get to the peak of your rush and flip your hips violently inside against the tackles block and get to the QB (Von Miller has made a Hall of Fame career off this). Pairing this with a rip move is the best way to get to a quarterback fast and Williams has the tools to pull it off.
Preview
Williams is a very strong draft prospect. Due to the depth and talent at EDGE this year, he has gone overlooked, but he very well could turn into one of the biggest steals of the draft. Right now most mock drafts I have seen see him as a late second rounder or early third rounder, but I think he has the potential to make a lot of front offices look stupid in five years. He was impressively productive given the scheme he played in, so when he gets into the role his tools are built for, he could wreak havoc. His versatile skill set and great combo of height and size make him a high upside prospect. Obviously there are some things he has to clean up, and he may not be setting the league on fire as a rookie, but do not forget his name as it will surely go down as one of the better Ole Miss products of the past decade.
