RashanGary
11-17-2007, 08:59 AM
On the inside track
Outstanding pass rusher Williams likely playing his way to big money
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 16, 2007
Green Bay - If you're the best inside pass rusher for the Green Bay Packers, you're a darn good football player.
So good, in fact, that in all probability defensive tackle Corey Williams is playing his final season for the club before he lands a mega-deal deal on the unrestricted free-agent market with another National Football League team.
His two position coaches, Robert Nunn and Carl Hairston, showed no hesitation before stating that Williams had rushed the passer better inside than Cullen Jenkins, Johnny Jolly, Ryan Pickett or Colin Cole.
"Oh, yeah," Hairston said. "He's a real talented guy. I just hope he keeps playing the way he's been playing."
All summer, Williams ranked a distant third behind Jenkins and Jolly among the inside rushers. But with injuries dogging Jenkins and Jolly not following up on his terrific pass-rushing August, Williams has surpassed them adhering to his simple philosophy of football.
"I just line up and get after the ball," he said. "Beat the guy in front of you. God blessed me with a talent to do it. That's what I do."
Williams, 6 feet 3½ inches and 320 pounds, looks like the stereotypical bull rusher and run stuffer.
It isn't that Williams can't walk back guards and eat up double teams in the run game. He can, and his coaches are pleased with his run defense.
But what should make Williams so attractive on the market is his natural skill as a pass rusher.
"Corey can get to the edge of guys," Nunn said. "If they can get in front of you, they can just set there and hang on to you. But you get a guy on the edge and move him vertically, that forces them to use their feet and be an athlete."
When Williams gets to the edge of a guard, he has a burst to the quarterback that, barring major injury, will make him a millionaire many times over. The guard who gets his shoulders turned by Williams usually can't catch up.
"He gets his power going one way and just keeps driving his legs," Hairston said. "A lot of people look at his body type, you'd probably say he's more of a power rusher. But he's not. Once he gets on the edge he's hard to stop."
The most common way to measure a pass rusher is sack total. Williams has four, third on the team behind Aaron Kampman (nine) and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (8½).
Probably a better gauge of effectiveness is pressures per snap. In this case, pressures are defined as the total of sacks, knockdowns and hurries.
Gbaja-Biamila (one every 11 snaps) and Kampman (one every 15.4) lead the way, but Williams is a solid third (one every 20.9). Jenkins is fourth (one every 29.4), followed by Jolly fifth (one every 64). Pickett is last (one every 294).
Last year, Williams finished with one pressure every 28.5 snaps. In 2005, he had one every 72.5 snaps. He also has displayed versatility in '07, playing 25 snaps at left end and nine at right end.
"For a big man, Corey has to be accounted for," Nunn said. "That's the beauty of our four-man rush. There's not one of them that can be left alone. Cullen doesn't have the numbers but he draws a lot of attention."
Williams ranks third on the unit in playing time at 57.6% behind Kampman and Jenkins. He'd prefer to start but in the first nine games, Jolly (44.5% playing time) has six starts compared with his three.
Since the dawn of training camp, the No. 1 nickel defense has included Williams and Jenkins at tackle. When the Packers rush four against five blockers on passing downs, Hairston said Jenkins had drawn more attention from the center than Williams.
Williams appeared honored when told his coaches rated him as the team's best inside rusher.
"That's a lot," he said. "Overall, I think I've been having a pretty good year."
Hairston said Williams had played even better than in 2006, when he ranked third among NFL defensive tackles in sacks with seven. This season, he is tied for sixth with four.
With 11 sacks, Williams ranks third in the NFL among defensive tackles in the last 1½ seasons behind Oakland's Warren Sapp and Chicago's Tommie Harris, each of whom has 12.
Williams, whose contract average of $369,000 is a direct reflection of his status as a sixth-round draft choice in 2004, is by far the lowest paid of the top 10 tackle sackers since '06. Two others, Harris ($1.699 million) and Tennessee's Albert Haynesworth ($1.517 million), rank low because they're also working on rookie contracts.
The blockbuster contracts of the other seven tackles in the top 10 demonstrate just how much clubs value inside pass rushers.
The list includes Detroit's Cory Redding ($6.786 million average) and Shaun Rogers ($5.833 million), Sapp ($5.229 million), Miami's Vonnie Holliday ($5 million), Chicago's Darwin Walker ($4.953 million), Atlanta's Rod Coleman ($4.625 million) and Arizona's Darnell Dockett ($4.402 million).
"I told him, 'Go ahead and make some money,' " Hairston said. " 'Just keep playing and let your numbers speak for themselves.' "
A few months ago, Williams switched agents, dropping Jeff Courtney and Pat Pinkston and hiring Mitch Frankel. The Packers and Frankel have had perfunctory talks but the die appears cast.
As much as the Packers admire Williams, they drafted his replacement in the first round (Justin Harrell), have money invested in Jenkins and Pickett, and undoubtedly will extend Jolly's contract in the next 1½ years.
Williams, 27, says he wants to finish in Green Bay. But given the Packers' commitment at the position, it's possible Williams can get double on the market what the Packers would be willing to pay.
As it stands now, Haynesworth is the only other defensive tackle headed for unrestricted free agency who is better than Williams.
"I don't have a reason to be sad," Williams said. "It's a business. I would like to stay here but it will be up to them at the end of the season.
"I got a lot of confidence in Mitch. That's why I went with him. The guy's got experience, been in the league, been around, did big contracts.
"I ain't really stressed myself about it. I'm worried about beating Carolina. I'm just going to kick back and let him do his job."
Outstanding pass rusher Williams likely playing his way to big money
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 16, 2007
Green Bay - If you're the best inside pass rusher for the Green Bay Packers, you're a darn good football player.
So good, in fact, that in all probability defensive tackle Corey Williams is playing his final season for the club before he lands a mega-deal deal on the unrestricted free-agent market with another National Football League team.
His two position coaches, Robert Nunn and Carl Hairston, showed no hesitation before stating that Williams had rushed the passer better inside than Cullen Jenkins, Johnny Jolly, Ryan Pickett or Colin Cole.
"Oh, yeah," Hairston said. "He's a real talented guy. I just hope he keeps playing the way he's been playing."
All summer, Williams ranked a distant third behind Jenkins and Jolly among the inside rushers. But with injuries dogging Jenkins and Jolly not following up on his terrific pass-rushing August, Williams has surpassed them adhering to his simple philosophy of football.
"I just line up and get after the ball," he said. "Beat the guy in front of you. God blessed me with a talent to do it. That's what I do."
Williams, 6 feet 3½ inches and 320 pounds, looks like the stereotypical bull rusher and run stuffer.
It isn't that Williams can't walk back guards and eat up double teams in the run game. He can, and his coaches are pleased with his run defense.
But what should make Williams so attractive on the market is his natural skill as a pass rusher.
"Corey can get to the edge of guys," Nunn said. "If they can get in front of you, they can just set there and hang on to you. But you get a guy on the edge and move him vertically, that forces them to use their feet and be an athlete."
When Williams gets to the edge of a guard, he has a burst to the quarterback that, barring major injury, will make him a millionaire many times over. The guard who gets his shoulders turned by Williams usually can't catch up.
"He gets his power going one way and just keeps driving his legs," Hairston said. "A lot of people look at his body type, you'd probably say he's more of a power rusher. But he's not. Once he gets on the edge he's hard to stop."
The most common way to measure a pass rusher is sack total. Williams has four, third on the team behind Aaron Kampman (nine) and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (8½).
Probably a better gauge of effectiveness is pressures per snap. In this case, pressures are defined as the total of sacks, knockdowns and hurries.
Gbaja-Biamila (one every 11 snaps) and Kampman (one every 15.4) lead the way, but Williams is a solid third (one every 20.9). Jenkins is fourth (one every 29.4), followed by Jolly fifth (one every 64). Pickett is last (one every 294).
Last year, Williams finished with one pressure every 28.5 snaps. In 2005, he had one every 72.5 snaps. He also has displayed versatility in '07, playing 25 snaps at left end and nine at right end.
"For a big man, Corey has to be accounted for," Nunn said. "That's the beauty of our four-man rush. There's not one of them that can be left alone. Cullen doesn't have the numbers but he draws a lot of attention."
Williams ranks third on the unit in playing time at 57.6% behind Kampman and Jenkins. He'd prefer to start but in the first nine games, Jolly (44.5% playing time) has six starts compared with his three.
Since the dawn of training camp, the No. 1 nickel defense has included Williams and Jenkins at tackle. When the Packers rush four against five blockers on passing downs, Hairston said Jenkins had drawn more attention from the center than Williams.
Williams appeared honored when told his coaches rated him as the team's best inside rusher.
"That's a lot," he said. "Overall, I think I've been having a pretty good year."
Hairston said Williams had played even better than in 2006, when he ranked third among NFL defensive tackles in sacks with seven. This season, he is tied for sixth with four.
With 11 sacks, Williams ranks third in the NFL among defensive tackles in the last 1½ seasons behind Oakland's Warren Sapp and Chicago's Tommie Harris, each of whom has 12.
Williams, whose contract average of $369,000 is a direct reflection of his status as a sixth-round draft choice in 2004, is by far the lowest paid of the top 10 tackle sackers since '06. Two others, Harris ($1.699 million) and Tennessee's Albert Haynesworth ($1.517 million), rank low because they're also working on rookie contracts.
The blockbuster contracts of the other seven tackles in the top 10 demonstrate just how much clubs value inside pass rushers.
The list includes Detroit's Cory Redding ($6.786 million average) and Shaun Rogers ($5.833 million), Sapp ($5.229 million), Miami's Vonnie Holliday ($5 million), Chicago's Darwin Walker ($4.953 million), Atlanta's Rod Coleman ($4.625 million) and Arizona's Darnell Dockett ($4.402 million).
"I told him, 'Go ahead and make some money,' " Hairston said. " 'Just keep playing and let your numbers speak for themselves.' "
A few months ago, Williams switched agents, dropping Jeff Courtney and Pat Pinkston and hiring Mitch Frankel. The Packers and Frankel have had perfunctory talks but the die appears cast.
As much as the Packers admire Williams, they drafted his replacement in the first round (Justin Harrell), have money invested in Jenkins and Pickett, and undoubtedly will extend Jolly's contract in the next 1½ years.
Williams, 27, says he wants to finish in Green Bay. But given the Packers' commitment at the position, it's possible Williams can get double on the market what the Packers would be willing to pay.
As it stands now, Haynesworth is the only other defensive tackle headed for unrestricted free agency who is better than Williams.
"I don't have a reason to be sad," Williams said. "It's a business. I would like to stay here but it will be up to them at the end of the season.
"I got a lot of confidence in Mitch. That's why I went with him. The guy's got experience, been in the league, been around, did big contracts.
"I ain't really stressed myself about it. I'm worried about beating Carolina. I'm just going to kick back and let him do his job."