You and I tend to agree on a lot of the players, but we differ on this guy. I think there’s a good chance for him to be a player, but I certainly would have liked to see him playing the 3T in college for a few years. Like I said though, if he performed doing that, we’d be talking about using pick 10 on him instead.
I do disagree that Williams has no business playing 3T. He is physically about a perfect player for the 3T spot. If you ask me, he really shouldn’t have been playing a 5T DE. Those guys are often up above 300 Lbs. Because they have to take on G-T double teams all the time. I guess at a school like Tech, you go with what you got, and they weren’t going to change from a 34 to a 43 just because they found Williams.
I think you’re off about him having to take on double teams all the time at the 3T. The reason that position was created to begin with is to isolate the OG on your “athlete” DT. By definition a 3-technique DT is lined up on the outside shoulder of the guard.
In this alignment the OT is responsible for the DE (or LEO). The center and guard usually take on the 1-Tech DT because, again by definition, he is lined up between the two. That leaves the 3T one-on-one with the guard and an athletic player like Aaron Donald, Warren Sapp, or Geno Atkins can cause problems all day long for that guy.
Here is a look at the defense Quinn ran in Seattle:
You can see that the LT in this case, will be responsible for the LEO, while the C/RG will take on the 1T. This leaves the LG all alone on the 3T.
There are variations of course, but that is the meat and potatoes look at who usually blocks who along Dan Quinn’s DL. The 3T is usually singled. Williams wouldn’t take on double team much at all at that position.
As for not fitting at 3T... Williams size is just about right.
- Milton Williams: 6-3 284 lbs
- Aaron Donald: 6-1 285
- Geno Atkins: 6-1 1/2 290 lbs
- Warren Sapp: 6-2 300 lbs.
And his athleticism out paces everyone in that list except for Aaron Donald, to whom his testing is about the same but better in most categories. Williams ran a faster 40, was better in both the broad jump and the vertical. In the change of direction drills he bested Donald in both the short shuttle and the 3-cone.
So Williams had better speed, explosion, and change of direction than Donald (Atkins and Sapp weren’t close to those two). That is the very definition of what you want from a 3T.
Those kind of movement skills are exactly what coaches want at that position... they just almost can never find it like Donald and Williams have.
I’m not saying Williams is Donald, Though. I know how special Donald is.
And what is better about Williams as a prospect is that usually the quick, athletic guys lack power... Williams has already shown that he’s very good against the run and that he can take on double teams. The only thing that is missing on him being a top 5 pick
is a lot of production.
The thing is, he doesn’t lack production because he can’t play 3T. He lacks it because he was played at a position where you never really see production. He didn’t get the chance to play a star role in college.
I would be right there with you on Williams if he had played as a 3T and didn’t do a lot. I like to see them do it in college. But he played 5T DE. And he played it well. It’s just that what he was asked to do wasn’t going to produce the type of plays that we want to see.
I think he’s a tremendous prospect at the 3T and I completely get why the team thinks he’d be great there. He has rare athleticism, is strong, plays hard, plays tough, and is a smart, quality guy. There is no reason for him to not be good as a 3T.
I’d love to have seen him play that spot in college but we have to do a little projecting across positions in this case. As long as you aren’t doing it in round 1, I’m fine with it.
