Film Room: Why Leonard Williams should be a top free agent target

From Raiders fan to Raiders player?

About a decade ago, Las Vegas Raiders fans (well, technically Oakland back then), were debating about whether or not to draft Leonard Williams with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. The Raiders ended up passing on the defensive tackle out of USC, but it feels like every time he’s been available via trade or free agency since then, the fanbase has been pounding the table for the team to pick up Williams.

Well, Raider Nation may finally get its wish.

After getting traded from the New York Giants to the Seattle Seahawks in October, the nine-year veteran’s contract is about to expire, making him a free agent. He’s also coming off of a strong campaign where he racked up 54 pressures as a pass-rusher — 11th most among defensive tackles — and earned a 68.5 run defense grade — tied for 22nd — according to Pro Football Focus.

So, let’s take a peek at what the soon-to-be 30-year-old’s film looks like.

We’ll start with a couple of pass-rush clips.

The Seahawks are slanting their defensive line to the weak side of the formation against this play-action pass from the 49ers. Williams uses that to his advantage by getting to square on the right guard once he recognizes the guard is pass-setting, giving himself a two-way go where he can win to the outside or the inside.

Williams does a great job of getting his helmet under the offensive lineman’s helmet and getting his hands inside of the offensive lineman’s hands to win at the point of contact on the bull rush. From there, he works to get on an edge to escape with an arm-over move, forcing Brock Prudy to scramble and throw on the run.

This isn’t a clean win by any means, but the defensive tackle has done his job by flushing the quarterback out of the pocket.

Here, Williams is lined up as a nose tackle and starts to work the bull rush again. The center does a good job of knocking the pass rusher’s hands down though which puts Williams in a difficult position where he’s chest-to-chest with the center.

However, the defensive tackle doesn’t quit and never stops moving his feet, keeping the offensive lineman on the lineman’s heels. That allows Williams to use a hump move to escape the block and go get a quarterback hit.

Two things stand out about our subject on this rep; his pass-rush motor and plan. He doesn’t stop rushing until the ball is out and always seems to have a counter-move ready to go if the bull rush doesn’t work.

Moving onto some run defense clips where Williams’ strength and block recognition stand out.

He’s lined up as a 3-technique on the backside of a counter run from San Francisco on this play. He sees the guard he’s lined up across from pull and immediately shifts his eyes and hands to the center coming to downblock him.

That’s where his strength and leverage come into play as he’s able to physically dominate the center to help clog up the inside rushing lane on the play side. From there, he keeps his outside arm free and when Christian McCaffery tries to cut backside, Williams is waiting for him to make a tackle right at the line of scrimmage for no gain.

This is a similar rep where Williams is just physically dominant at the point of attack. The biggest difference is San Francisco’s offensive line zone run blocks to help sell the outside zone call. For those curious, Kyle Shanahan is using some misdirection to make the defense think it’s outside zone but the play call is still counter, just with the fullback and tight end serving as the pullers.

Back to the matter at hand. Had this been a zone run, Williams would have done an excellent job of setting the edge against the guard and forcing the running back to cut up the field. He’s fulfilled his assignment at that point, however, he goes the extra mile by escaping the block across the guard’s face to get involved in the tackle.

This was a common theme on a few of the defensive tackle’s reps.

Here, the Eagles are running inside split zone to Williams’ side of the formation. That means the guard and center are responsible for combo-blocking him and then working up to the linebacker or safety on the second level.

But, Williams does a great job of beating the man he’s lined up across from to win at the point of attack and make the combo block ineffective. Again, he executed his assignment by plugging up the B-gap but finished by making the extra effort to work across the guard’s face and make the tackle for a short gain.

We’ll wrap up with another great rep against what’s supposed to be a combo block from the offensive line. But, again, Williams beats the man he’s lined up across from at the point of attack. He also flips his hips to split the offensive linemen and shows some impressive balance to stay on his feet when both blockers work up to the second level. That, plus a mental/communication lapse between the guard and tackle allows defensive tackle to break free and get a tackle for loss.

With his combination of run defense and pass rush skills, it’s hard to argue why Williams shouldn’t be toward the top of the Raiders’ priority list in free agency.