Steve Williams
DT
NW Missouri State
Overview
Williams found a home with the Bearcats the last two seasons after previous stops at Indiana and Northern Illinois. The team captain was sorely missed in 2005, as he missed most of the season following October surgery to repair a sports hernia.
Williams was a Super Prep All-American and All-State performer at Bolingbrook High School. He was rated by the Detroit Free Press as tenth-best player in the Midwest and Prep Star rated him the fourth-best prospect in the region.
Williams competed as a defensive end, fullback and tight end, recording 85 tackles with four sacks and two fumble recoveries while averaging 5.0 yards per carry in his final high school season. He also lettered in track and wrestling, winning the Illinois State heavyweight wrestling championship as a junior.
After he was heavily recruited by Florida State, Penn State, Purdue, Michi gan State, Wisconsin and Texas, Williams decided to enroll at Indiana in 2000. He played in ten games as a defensive tackle, making 14 tackles (7 solos) with a sack and three stops for losses.
The Hoosiers coaching staff asked him to move to Rush end in 2001, and Williams dropped more than 30 pounds in order to play on the outside. The 243-pounder finished the year with 17 tackles (10 solos), a sack and three stops behind the line of scrimmage. He also caused a fumble and deflected a pass.
Williams decided to transfer to Northern Illinois in 2002, but left the school before playing in any games. He spent the 2002-03 seasons as a member of the work force before deciding to give football one more attempt. He enrolled at Northwest Missouri in 2004 and won the starting left defensive tackle job.
As a junior, Williams was a unanimous first-team All-Mid America Intercollegiate Athletics Association choice. He registered 52 tackles (19 solos) with a sack and seven stops for losses. Williams added three fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, an interception and two pass breakups.
After missing three of the team's first eight 2005 games with groin and hip problems, Williams shut down his senior season and underwent sports hernia surgery on Oct. 25. In the games he did appear in, he collected 31 tackles (23 solos) with 1.5 sacks and three stops behind the line of scrimmage.
In 18 games at Northwest Missouri, Williams recorded 83 tackles (42 solos) with 2.5 sacks for minus-9 yards and ten stops for losses of 25 yards. He recovered three fumbles and caused another. He also had two pass breakups and an interception. He posted 31 tackles (17 solos) with two sacks for minus-9 yards, six stops behind the line of scrimmage and a forced fumble in 21 games at Indiana.
For his collegiate career, Williams produced 114 tackles (59 solos), 4.5 sacks for minus-18 yards and 16 stops for losses of 45 yards. He deflected three passes, picked off another, caused two fumbles and had three fumble recoveries.
Analysis
Positives: Well-developed athlete with the frame to carry at least another fifteen pounds...Has thick upper body muscle development, broad shoulders, thick biceps, big bubble, very long arms and large hands...Equally effective lining up at nose guard and at three-technique...Has good straight-line speed and quick feet to work his way through trash...Has the natural strength and good hand placement to shed...Makes plays when moving laterally and has the explosive burst to surprise the blockers when shooting the gaps...Plays on his feet and shows good body control in pursuit...Not a blow-up type of tackler, but is effective at grabbing and dragging ballcarriers down with his long wingspan...Has the ability to flatten working down the line...Comes hard off the edge in stunts, but is best when stationed at the line to provide containment.
Negatives: Struggles in school and is not suited for a complicated defensive system, as he needs more than a few reps to retain...Slow to react to plays, especially misdirection, but will close quickly once he locates the ball...Needs to play with better knee bend and when he gets too high in his stance, his base narrows, causing him to struggle and get washed out vs. double teams...Must learn to use his long arms better to keep blockers away from his body...Has very good training room strength, but fails to explode behind his hits and must generate better pop on contact...Lacks any pass rush moves and will usually be stymied when his initial charge is negated...Too stiff-legged to make plays in long pursuit...Does not have the short area burst to close on the pocket and lacks a natural feel on the pass rush...Despite his captaincy, he is not a self-starter and needs to be pushed in order to perform.
I was sick yesterday and didn't make it online to do anything!