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Trent Williams

Measurables

6’5. 315 pounds. Born July 19th, 1988.

Scouting Reports

K.C. Joyner’s Draft Lab

In reviewing Oklahoma Sooners offensive tackle Trent Williams, I can’t help but think of Gosder Cherilus. Cherilus is the progenitor of this series; after seeing his subpar collegiate metrics accurately translate into subpar professional metrics, I decided to start reviewing more NFL draft prospects this way.

The central premise of the Draft Lab series is that the top-level pro prospects should be able to post metrics against collegiate competition that are above average or better than high-end NFL players at the same position. In the five-game series I broke down on Williams (at Miami, versus Texas, at Kansas, versus Kansas State, at Nebraska), he gave up four splash plays. There were two sack plays and one offensive holding play, so three of the four splash plays were direct impacts and not simply judgement calls.

As bad as four splash plays in five games is, Williams was lucky that total wasn’t higher. He was beaten quite badly on an inside spin move in the Nebraska game that was very nearly a hurry or sack, but a quick reaction by OU quarterback Landry Jones saved Williams from splash play No. 5.

That wasn’t the only time Williams struggled with an inside pass-rush move. He was pushed completely off his feet with an inside shoulder club move in both the Kansas State and Nebraska games. Miami also ran 10 inside moves against Williams, which is such a high total that one has to figure the Hurricanes saw a similar inside pass-blocking weakness.

Those woes would be enough on their own to consider Williams overhyped, but his run blocking is actually worse than his pass blocking. Williams blocked at the point of attack on a running play 41 times and won the battle 33 times. That equates to an 80.5 percent POA win rate. To put that in perspective, an 80.5 percent POA rate in 2008 would have ranked 28th among NFL left tackles.

Williams’ POA win rates are worse than that if the 10 plays on which he had double-team blocking help are removed. He had zero POA losses on those plays, so his POA win rate on one-on-one blocks was 74.2 percent.

Williams also has issues with penalties. There was the aforementioned offensive holding penalty, two false starts, a personal foul/leg whip penalty and a personal foul/late hit.

The late hit might show an additional weakness. It came not long after Nebraska defensive lineman Barry Turner beat Williams on a POA run block. Williams beat Turner on a run block a few plays later and wouldn’t stop blocking him until well after the play was over. His extra pushing eventually led to the penalty, and it looked to my scouting eye like he was mad about having been beaten and was trying to send a message to Turner.

That could be a strength in that if a coach can find a way to tap into it, it might be used to his team’s advantage. The problem is, though, NFL defenders know when someone reacts poorly to having his buttons pushed, and if they sense that weakness in Williams, he’ll have someone trying to goad him in every game he plays.

The Football Scientist lab result: Had I not known before watching video of Williams that he was considered a first-round prospect in many circles, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to even consider ranking him that high. He might go in the first round because he is a left tackle, but the metrics say he will be a mediocre pro player, and that stamps him with the TFS overhyped label.

Williams is much like Cherilus in that his collegiate metrics leave a lot to be desired.

His first and most important metric weakness is pass blocking. Left tackles get monster contracts and highly publicized motion pictures (“The Blind Side,” about Michael Oher, opens Friday) because of their ability to keep pass-rushers from impacting the game via splash plays (e.g., sacks, offensive holding penalties, tipped passes, etc.).

A review I did in Scientific Football 2009 shows the best professional pass-blockers allow four or fewer splash plays in a season. It tiers down from there, with four to six being above average, six to 10 being below average and more than 10 ranking at or near the bottom of the league.

ESPN’s Scouts Inc.

Production	2	2006: (7/7) Took over starting ROT job for injured Brandon Braxton versus Missouri, which was his first of seven consecutive starts to begin the season. 2007: (14/6) Played in all 14 games, including six starts at right tackle 2008: (14/14) Started all
Height-Weight-Speed	3	Prototypical height. Lacks ideal bulk but certainly adequate in that department and has room to add some bulk to frame.
Durability	2	No glaring injuries. Has played in all 28 games the past two seasons (2007-08), including 20 starts.
Intangibles	2	Has shown some versatility and willingness to put team ahead of self. No off the field issues to our knowledge. Continues to improve with more experience.

Offensive Tackle specific Traits
Awareness	2	His footwork needs some polishing but his overall instincts and awareness are above average. Has a feel for defenders trying to set him up. Does a great job of getting helping inside initially and then picking up the oncoming wide defender in slide prot
Toughness	1	One of the toughest offensive linemen we evaluated in this year’s class. Lacks elite power but is strong and tough enough to matchup effectively in the phone booth with any defender. Clearly plays with a mean streak. Fights to finish and wants to finis
Pass Protection	2	Not an elite athlete but shows better-than-average feet, balance and lateral agility. Gets set quickly in pass pro. Shows the ability to mirror and slide versus quicker DEs. Is aggressive in short set. A bit inconsistent with his footwork but clearly
Run Blocking	1	Angles are a bit inconsistent. Adequate-to-good initial quickness. Shows the foot quickness to establish great positioning as a run blocker as long as his first step and angle are proper. Initial pop is good but not elite. He’s strong enough to drive

Draft Board Insider

Scouting Report:  This time last year, and even up until August of this year, Williams was the best tackle in the country.  Then he put his hand on the ground, and everything went wrong from that point forward.  Williams has a huge body, with long arms, and a powerful build.  The problem is, his game is more finesse than power.  He’s got great feet for a man his size, and does an excellent job moving laterally and getting his arms out and keeping defenders off of him.  But he doesn’t work as physical as he should in the run game, and just doesn’t play with the energy level we saw last year.  He’s got good posture keeps his pads low, and is very good at play recognition.  He does a fin job in identifying and picking up the blitz and works pretty well in space, and gets to the second level.  But compared to last year, Williams overall level of play is down.  His run blocking has gotten much worse, and he has lost some of his discipline, often taking plays off, especially in pass protection, allowing rushers to get up into his pads and overpower him.

Draft Status:At this point, I’m not certain Williams is a first round pick. Last year, Phil Loadholt was the Sooner tackle who fell, but he ended up in Minnesota, moved back to the right side, and is having a phenomenal year.  The same could be said for Williams.  His junior year doesn’t just go away because his senior year has been down.  He’s been surrounded by backups.  All in all, I think some team will roll the dice on him late in the first round.

Final Analysis:  In the final analysis, I think Williams is an NFL right tackle.  His game fell off the cliff when he was moved to the left, and honestly he probably won’t ever play on the left in the NFL.  His game came to him much more naturally on the right side, and I will be curious to see if he is put back on the right, if he can once again play at the elite level he did as a Junior.  He has all the tools, and considering what we’ve seen of him, the upside is there.

Reminds me of: David Stewart, OT Tennessee Titans-Stewart is one of the better RT’s in the NFL and much of that comes from his ability to pass protect.  Williams strength is pass protection, but we’ve seen he can be a great run blocker at times.  If he can elevate his run blocking to a level of Stewart’s he’ll be in great shape in the NFL.

Walterfootball.com

Strengths:

Solid height and bulk

Long arms

Very athletic

Gets set quickly

Nice lateral movement

Consistent footwork and mirrors well

Patient; gets comfortable in stance

Gets to second level

Displays short range explosion

Light on his feet

Great balance

Instinctive; counters moves well

Nice stunt/blitz awareness

Effective hand punch

Shows ability to handle elite speed off edge

Weaknesses:

Lacks a nasty demeanor

Not very physical in run game

Sometimes lets rushers into body

Occasionally has bad posture

Must sustain blocks at higher level

Lapses in concentration

Looks a little stiff with knee bendS

ummary: Trent Williams is a very solid left tackle prospect, but he has lots of room to improve in the running game and I don’t think he will ever be considered an elite pass protector in the NFL. Williams is making the move from right to left tackle in 2009, and NFL scouts will be monitoring his progress closely. The official Oklahoma Web site claims he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.82 seconds… we’ll see about that at the Combine.Player Comparison: Donald Penn. Penn is an athletic pass protector, but lacks a nasty demeanor against the run.

Big Board Rankings

ESPN’s Scouts Inc 14th

Draft Board Insider 27th

Drafttek.com 14th

Where the Mocks Have him Falling

Profootballtalk 8th Raiders

Todd McShay 8th to the Raiders

CBS Draft Scout 13th to the Raiders

Kiper 16th to the 49ers

Walterfootball.com to the 49ers

Draftboardinsider.com 24th to the Eagles

Bartolis Summary and Final Verdict

I’ve made it known that I am in favor of the Giants drafting an OT with the 15th overall pick as long as it provides good value. Trent Williams is an Offensive linemen who could very well be available when the Giants select at 15th.

Williams is an athletic tackle prospect with a lot of upside because of his superior athleticsm.

Bartolis Final Verdict

However, Williams lacks bulk and with the Giants already having William Beatty, another player who is athletically built, but without a huge body (IE may be adequate in run blocking but can be an elite pass blocker) I’m not sure he fits with the Giants.

Williams will receive very high grades from some, and (realatively) low grades from others. He scares me a bit, and I think he is behind Okung, Davis, Baluga and Campbell at this point (to me). I think Williams has a high upside, and I think it is possible that the Giants DO draft him because he as a productive player at a big time program at a position of need for the Giants, I would not.

But that’s not to say he won’t get drafted high. Look at the mocks that have actual connections to the league, McShay, Profootball talk have him going 8th to the Raiders. Kiper has him in the top 20.

If the Giants draft him you can’t complain too much…heading into the season he was the #1 or #2 OT so if the Giants draft him they must see something good on tape…and they’ve watched much more of it than I have.

But like I said, he’s not one of my favorite players… I’ve been right a lot of times on my gut feeling about players (I really liked Mario Williams), but I’ve been wrong as well at times like everyone has (I was dead wrong about Matt Leinart so far as far as players I really liked). I think Williams is one of these cases where feelings will be across the board.

I saw somewhere that people think Williams might run a very fast 40 at the combine which might boost his stock as well.

In other words I continue to be in favor of drafting an OL at 15th overall…just not this one.

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