Top 10 interior defensive linemen in the 2021 NFL Draft

#5 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Milton Williams (Louisiana Tech)

6’ 4”, 280 pounds; RS JR

Milton Williams

Only a two-star recruit back four years ago, Milton Williams has added 50 pounds from his final high school weight and got bigger every year. He redshirted for one year barely saw the field as a freshman, but has been an impact these last two seasons and he was dominant across the board versus Conference-USA this past year in particular. Over the last two seasons, he has combined for 19 tackles for loss and ten sacks, earning honorable mention and first-team all-conference accolades respectively.

Williams played between three-, 4i- and five-technique for the most part in the Bulldogs’ 3-4 front. He really has some juice off the ball and can either shoot through gaps and flash color in the backfield or stack up blockers in the run game. You see Williams knock blockers backwards at first contact and then jerk them to the side, when their weight is too far out in front routinely.

In short-yardage situations, he can create disruptive by just moving offensive linemen backwards. On lateral run schemes, he shows the quickness to flow on the playside, but then redirect as he sees the ball-carrier cuts back. However, even more so, it’s that ability to be shaded towards one side of a side and rapidly wrap up the back, when he goes up the opposite gap.

He also flashes that ability to back-door blockers on zone runs with a sudden arm-over maneuver. Williams squeezes and chases down runs from the backside very well and gets involved on a lot more tackles than most guys in his position would, which is in part thanks to his pure speed, but also his strong motor.

Williams can, at times, get cut off in the backside B-gap and shuffle across the formation to get hands on the ball-carrier on off tackle runs the other way. Williams also displays the change of direction, to go from moving upfield to pivoting off one foot and chasing after a screen out near the sideline.

As a pass-rusher, he certainly also that suddenness and those twitchy movement skills to him. Williams gets around guards routinely by giving them a little wiggle and then the high swim, to go with pivoting his hips, to get them pointed to the quarterback simultaneously.

He has the ability to jab one way and beat blockers across their face with that move as well, where you rarely see his opponents be able to redirect laterally before he has already cleared their hips or they end up getting flagged for grabbing him on the way by. And then as opponents don’t set him strong enough, he can work through them and put them on roller-blades with the bull-rush.

On third downs, you saw him move out to the edge and come from a two-point stance as times, where his ability to corner to the quarterback whilst working through contact can really shine, as well as being able to shorten the arc with power.

Williams was one of the most productive interior pass-rushers in the country this past season, with 30 total pressures on just under 250 pass-rushing snaps (12.1%) and a 21.8 percent pass-rush win rate. And those numbers are even more impressive, considering how many three-man rushes Louisiana Tech used, because of which Williams saw a lot of doubles from the tackle and guard. This guy was a one-man wrecking crew against UAB last season.

The biggest reason to pause a little bit with the evaluation of Williams is the fact he is a bit of a one-year wonder. Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of just over 90 this past season, after he was at 72.6 in 2019. You see him get sealed or hinge-blocked too easily on the backside of runs, because he doesn’t mirror the first step(s) of linemen effectively enough.

With only 31 ½-inch arms, the further outside he plays – which at 280 pounds, three-technique will be his closest alignment to the ball – the more often he will lose the length battle. Williams had a tough time making much of an impact in the BYU game, when he faced technically sound offensive linemen, who were able to attack his frame constantly. As effective as he was rushing the passer last season, his arsenal of moves isn’t very broad yet. And he played less than 500 total snaps in ten games last season and missed large portions of series, almost inexplicably.

Nevertheless, Williams put up ridiculous numbers at the Louisiana Tech pro day, where 34 reps on the bench press was probably his worst one, as he was in the 97th percentile in all other categories, including clocking in in the low 4.6s for the 40 and below 6.9 in the three-cone drill.

There are some concerns about only having one dominant season, which came in this odd year of college football, but with that freakish testing, he’s not making it past day two. If you teach him to be a little more effective and diverse with his hand-combats,

I think he can be a high-level pass-rusher in year two already and with how quickly he can get off blocks in the run game, he will make several stops in that area. So I think a three-tech or a 4i in more of hybrid front is his most natural fit, while kicking out to the edge on some passing downs.