Jason Williams and Leon Williams Tale of the Tape - Oakland

by Blue Eyed Devil on Aug 15, 2010 2:49 PM CDT

This was origionally a response to a thread. But, hey, we've got a full week until the next Cowboys game and need something to talk about, so let's talk about ILBs.

Here's my review of Jason Williams and Leon Williams from the Oakland game.

Jason Williams - B+

Pros:
- He’s looked really good in coverage, always seems to find his man and be all over him. There were a couple times he found the RB or FB going way across the field and still had him
- He looks great moving through traffic. He’s blown up running backs in the backfield because of how smoothly he can get through holes and shoot to the back.
- Very good at minding his gap, always has his gap in run support
- Tackling, tackles surely. I don’t think I’ve seen him miss one yet

Cons:
- Not fast sideline-to-slideline. One play in particular he got sucked in about 2 steps and did not have the speed at all to get to Rock Cartwright streaming out his side. He made the tackle but gave up like 15 yards and got him from behind when Cartwright slowed down. From the camp reports I thought he was faster than he actually is sideline to sideline.
- Not physical tacking on blocks. When a fullback gets his hands on him, he has to give up ground. He doesn’t have the explosion at the point of the block to stand up a fullback.

Conclusion: An upgrade over Carpenter at the nickle linebacker position. He covers well and is good in interior run support. The lack of speed to the sideline is my major concern moving forwards for his chances at taking a starting ILB position in the future. If he's getting beat to the edge by Rock Cartwright, I'm worried about what happens when you put in Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Maurice Jones Drew, Felix Jones, etc.

Leon Williams - C-

Conclusion: I was a little excited to see how he did after his interception against the Bengals. But, man, I'm sorry I looked at him. This guy does not make an NFL team.

He missed tackles. He was a liability in coverage losing his man sometimes and getting burnt other times.

We know about the dropped interception that could have sealed the game. But he had another game-losing play as well. The game-losing running back screen was to his side, he saw it, moved to the back, and out in space let a lineman block him out of the way, springing Cartwright that a huge gain. So the two biggest plays that allowed the Raiders to beat us were squarely on his shoulders.

I saw nothing in the physical tools of speed, size, or strength to make me think he has a ceiling to aspire to.

He is the quintesential camp body. He's just there to fill a role until Lee gets back.

Another user-created commentary provided by a BTB reader.

Tweet Comment 15 comments | 2 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

JWill

at his small college he was just a OLB pass rusher, he is still learning ILB in a 3-4 which aint easy coming from a DII school
but man his tools are great and I think he is gonna be good
at times I wonder if he should just be put at OLB again and pass rush because he led in sacks and was the nations LB of the year in his division
people didnt like that pick it was questionable but I really like the upside of JWill
has Patrick Willis athletctism
I didnt see that game other than the 1st qt so and it was online so I couldnt really get a good look at him

I think Leon Willams has a shot but after that game he took a hit in his stock, personally I would keep him over Octavien or Hodge jmo

by Archie Barberio on Aug 15, 2010 3:42 PM CDT reply actions

Great Post

I like that the summary went first, sometimes I’m lazy and don’t ready the play by play. But yeah I was at the game and I didn’t see Leon Williams do that well, I’m glad the tape says so too. He’s a PS player at best.

Also on a side note could I request a breakdown for the two NTs, Savii and Brent? They both seemed active and it was really cool to watch Brent chase down Cartwright 20 yards down field in person!

Thanks again for doing these for the last two Preseasons!

If the Cowboys lose to McNabb in Week 1, I am drinking myself into a coma.

by Rat-Pack on Aug 15, 2010 4:06 PM CDT reply actions

good job

I was hearing all kinds of great things about Leon Williams in camp that seemed like he virtually earned a roster spot but from what I saw in the Raiders game strongly shows he`s a longshot, thanks for the analysis of his performance, very insightful and much appreciated.

by ziggy19 on Aug 15, 2010 5:01 PM CDT reply actions

Brandon Williams was the one credited with the INT in the Bengals game. Not Leon, too many Williams! lol

It really is surprising that a guy with Jason Williams athleticism could be slow. Maybe he has a slow reaction time and play recognition?

Thanks for the evals. It makes preseason a lot more enjoyable.

by JLMax09 on Aug 15, 2010 6:26 PM CDT reply actions

Speed

The only play where I thought he looked particularly fast was a strong-side blitz where he stood up next to Butler on the line and sprinted unblocked the QB, and yet the ball still came out before he got there.

He does have good acceletarion and that shows in run support. You’ll see him burst to the line, take a few steps the navigate heavy traffic, and then burst again to the ball carrier or the QB. Those movements impressed me.

But in terms of straight-line speed, I’ve honestly seen Brooking look faster than Williams chasing down running backs to the edge.

by Blue Eyed Devil on Aug 15, 2010 8:04 PM CDT up reply actions

WOW!!!

According to what I’ve read L.Williams is a lock(insert sarcasm)!! COWBOYS RULE!!!

Wade Phillips first Super Bowl win is as the Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys!!!

by NVCowboy4Life on Aug 15, 2010 11:34 PM CDT reply actions

where you from in NV?

I’m from Elko…

by Leithal Weapon on Aug 16, 2010 3:07 PM CDT up reply actions

~waves hand in dismissal~ at the Cowboys loss in PRE-SEASON....

Cmon peeps, dont start ragging on the Boys yet…We beat the cool cats in Cincy, so what we lost to a fresher team with a more experienced QB in the 4thQ…I mean Romo only played 3 sets so far, and hey, its PRE-SEASON, so we lost?…OCC proves in his Post it dont mean nothing…we were 2-2(?) last year and look at we done in the regular season?…I get bored watching Dallas 3rd stringers get beat up by 1st and 2nd squads on other teams…Im just sitting and chilling until the start of regular season enduring the cataclysmic talk of the know-it-alls and brushing my finger nails against my chest in a non-chalant manner…WHO GIVES A CRUD?…I mean between choices of watching a re-run of “The Family Guy”, and Im not saying I dont throw down with them toons, or another episode of “Law and Order” on Sunday, it was still refreshing to watch the Boys scrimmage against another team…What I saw was us beating them in all but the 4thQ, and not really caring if we won the game or not ….IT WAS PRE-SEASON!!!!!….so lets call a spade a spade, and just go on about the business of gearing us up for the regular season, when we play for all the marbles…Thats my take on the game…it didnt matter…noone cared who won or lost…except maybe the haters who want any little tid-bit they can to throw at us…Let just keep our cool, and let the chips fall where they may…and maybe if we hope hard enough they will all fall on Ellie Mannings sore foot…Anyway, your not going to catch me drawing long breaths and cursing the TV screen over a PRE-SEASON game…IT MEANS NOTHING!!!…Same old stuff year in and year out….the pundits try and predict Dallas demise on what they accomplish in PRE-SEASON, and year in and year out Dallas proves them wrong…Just my opinion….FEAR THE STAR

by drifter1234 on Aug 16, 2010 4:36 AM CDT reply actions

I gotta disagree with your assessment of Leon Williams

I guess people can watch the same game and have different opinions, but I saw a guy who was involved and around the ball making plays all night. He dropped the INT, that wasn’t good, but the play where he was blocked while trying to tackle Cartwright, he was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing.

While the linemen and other LB’s had all run themselves out of the play or been blocked, Leon was the lone defender in the area able to come up and affect the play, he took away the outside path of the RB and was blocked trying to get in position for the tackle. Nothing he could do about the lineman’s block, but he forced the play back to the inside where Brent managed to chase him down from behind for a 15 yd gain or so.

That was just one play, but the guy was all over the field making tackles, I believe he leads the team in tackles so far this pre-season (either him or Jason Williams). I think he’s got a shot, not a great shot, but definitely a chance to make the roster as a backup, and if not this roster, then another team will bring him in for depth. He’s already been a starter in the league as an ILB in CLE’s 3-4, I wouldn’t be surprised if Romeo Crennel brings him to KC if he doesn’t make the cut in DAL.

Regarding Jason Williams, I think his speed is fine, but his diagnosis of plays is still a work in progress. The clearest example was on the second 4thQ screen play that went for the huge gain, he completely took himself out of the play by rushing the QB on a late blitz, after he completely lost track of the RB I assume he was supposed to cover. As soon as he went into the line, the RB popped outside into the exact same area as the 1st screen was run to, but this time there was nobody there to slow him up as Leon Williams did previously. This is what the pre-season is for. I’m sure he’s getting better with the more snaps he takes in games. It will be interesting to see how Lee looks playing out there, then we’ll get a better idea of how Jason’s doing in comparison.

Thank you #22, for everything you did for the Cowboys. There will never be another one like you.

by APerfectStar on Aug 16, 2010 8:32 AM CDT reply actions

I don’t blame Jason for the late screen. It looked like the play called for the ILBs to blitz. I think the play calling was bad or the OLB was supposed to puck up the back. We don’t know the play call, but to me it didn’t look like Jason’s responsibility.

On Leon; Demarcus Ware gets off the block and makes that tackle. Anthony Spencer gets off the block and makes that tackle. Literally on a similar play on third down earlier in the game Anthony Spencer came from an ILBish position, knifed through 4 blockers and tackled Bush. It’s an easy play to remember because it was that one with only 10 men on the field looking confused. In this defense that play gets made,I expect guys to make those plays.

by Blue Eyed Devil on Aug 16, 2010 9:55 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions

I don't think he's anywhere near Ware or Spencer or even Bradie James in terms of talent

But we’re talking about a guy competing for the 9th LB spot. I think he’s slightly ahead of the other guys trying to make the team. When Lee finally starts playing, Leon will be back with the 3rd unit.

I’ll watch the Jason Williams play again, but it sure looked like he was one of the guys that blew it, probably wasn’t the only one though. The camera cut away right before you could see who Wade was scowling at when they came off the field.

Thank you #22, for everything you did for the Cowboys. There will never be another one like you.

by APerfectStar on Aug 16, 2010 5:34 PM CDT up reply actions

You gave L. Williams a C-

to which he replied “I passed!”

Ich bin ein Berliner--JFK

by HudBaby on Aug 16, 2010 10:18 AM CDT reply actions

haha

me too!

by Musiccitynorm on Aug 16, 2010 4:04 PM CDT up reply actions

Funny because its true

Thank you #22, for everything you did for the Cowboys. There will never be another one like you.

by APerfectStar on Aug 16, 2010 5:35 PM CDT up reply actions

i think its a close battle between the Williams

to many times you see J.Williams chasing plays from behind & his head starts spinning when he’s in coverage. JWill was drafted as a project & has a long ways to go before he’s game ready.
L.Williams has a tad more experience & seems to look more comfortable on the field but he’s had his struggles also.
with the arrival of Lee it gives them more flexibility to choose which Williams they want but if it comes down to which is better at this point, it would have to be Leon imo.

Move Over Sweetness, Make A Place For Emmitt!

by Va_Cowboy_Fan on Aug 17, 2010 1:12 PM CDT reply actions