The Alabama Crimson Tide deliver NFL-caliber defenders to teams on an annual basis, but one player shines brighter than any other in recent memory: Quinnen Williams. An outstanding redshirt sophomore season showed his incredible strength, speed, and technique, turning him into a top draft prospect.
We looked into what Lance Zierlein of NFL.com along with Kyle Crabbs and Joe Marino of The Draft Network had to say about Williams’s impressive profile. Here are their notes:
Kyle Crabbs
Quinnen Williams is an easy projection to a 3T role in the NFL. Williams has superb quickness, extension skills, pass rush counters and football intelligence. There’s little in the way of limitations for Williams between the sidelines. Williams has All-Pro potential and can be a perennial Pro Bowler if he plays to his potential. Williams should start immediately in the NFL and be the face of a young team’s defensive unit for years to come.
Joe Marino
Quinnen Williams features the same toolbox of traits that we’ve seen in other recent Alabama defensive lineman but taken to another level across the board. He dominates with a rare blend of quickness, power, flexibility, processing skills and technique that make him primed for a sensational career as a standout playmaker. While his skill set is optimally suited to serve as a three-technique in a 4-3 alignment, Williams can lineup anywhere on the interior or even occasionally at 5-technique, making him a versatile defender. Williams has the upside to become one of the NFL’s best defensive linemen and cornerstone of a franchise. He is worthy of a high selection in any draft.
Lance Zierlein
Williams’ hands, feet and overall movement are extremely efficient and he combines those features with short-area burst to create instant wins at the point of attack to propel him to the football. His play strength is good, but his lack of mass and length will show up at times against NFL competition. Despite having just a single season of headline production, his instincts, quickness and athleticism are projectable play traits that should allow for continued production against both the run and pass on the next level. Williams is an instant starter with Pro Bowl potential.
The only thing that holds Williams out of being a top-three pick might be team needs. The number-one pick could be reserved for a quarterback, and the next two teams both have good defensive tackles on their roster. If he falls further than that, the Buffalo Bills will likely consider the trade-offs of trading up, because Williams would give them a Pro Bowl defensive tackle.