DJ Williams: Paradigm Shift

In 2004 an interesting OLB prospect came into the draft as a senior out of Linebacker U. He was fast (4.48 40yd, faster than most WR), freakishly agile (11.4 in the 60yd shuttle, beating the benchmarks set for coverage safeties) and unbelievably explosive (38" vertical, higher than was expected out of CBs and WRs). DJ Williams entered the draft with teammate Jonathon Vilma as the top linebacking prospects, hands down.

Part of what set DJ apart was tremendous lower body strength, which gave him exceptional balance, heightened his agility and made him a powerful hitter. He was regarded as "instinctive in the gap", and a natural at reading his zone. In fact it was rare to find a dissenting opinion on his future greatness and potential. John Madden, who spoke at Williams High Scool team banquet remarked, "DJ is the only player I have ever seen who could go straight from highschool to the pro level." There was only one unanswered question in the minds of many scouts who watched DJ: "You will not see sixty minutes from him in any one game where he absolutely dominated," one NFL scouting director said. "But you see that he is still learning and progressing. You like to see that. I just wonder if he’ll ever be able to play up to his best all the time." Click here to continue reading...