OLB, Jason Williams, Western Illinois

OLB, Jason Williams, Western Illinois

Styg's Broncos Fit:  Adequate SOLB candidate who shows the hips and quick feet needed to cover TEs and RBs in the flat.  Was a defensive captain and produced consistently starting in his sophomore year.  While he needs to get better at disengaging from blockers, he shows the strength to be able to do that eventually.  When attacking the ball he meets the blocker fiercely, and flashes the ability to get the separation needed to make the play around the line of scrimmage.  Would be an excellent special-teams coverage player.

Around MHR:

From "Tales:  Reaching for the Ring"

Every year in this country, hundreds of fine athletes don't get that invite. The NFL draft has gone from 12 rounds down to 7. Rosters were reduced in response to the closing of NFL Europe. Competition is tougher than ever, as the big programs can now offer more to the student in the way of training facilities and individual coaching. But many of them will bring substantial skills to the table. Athletes who don't make the draft are often contacted ahead of time, evaluated, and called as soon as the final pick comes off the Big Board. But it's a long road and a short chance. Their school Pro Days are usually their last chance to impress, to get their names into someone's mind, and hope for that call on draft day. Jason Williams took that challenge to heart.

Around SBNation:

From "Drafting for the Future" at Turf Show Times:

Jason Williams (OLB/ILB) (Western Illinois) Was a highly effective linebacker in college and has good size and has safety speed. While he could cut his teeth on special teams he has all the tools to be a future starter at linebacker if devolped properly.

Highlights:

Scouting Reports and Offsite Links:

• A thick, compact linebacker with good overall power and base strength at the point of attack. Does a great job attacking downhill at the line of scrimmage and filling holes in the run game. Is a powerful tackler and drives his hips through contact. Displays good fluidity and balance in his back-pedal and is a much better athlete than given credit for. Displays excellent straight-line speed for the position.  [see more...]
• Western Illinois LB Jason Williams… certainly passes the eye-test with flying colors, well-defined upper-body, little tight in the hips when dropping back into coverage, but he flies to the ball and shows an extra burst of closing speed in the open field.  [see more...]
• On a day when Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith, a potential top 2 pick in the upcoming draft, worked out for scouts at the Baylor Pro Day, the buzz in scouting circles was not the athletic Smith nor any of the other Bears. The buzz was about Western Illinois outside linebacker Jason Williams, whose all-around workout was better than any outside linebacker tested at the NFL Combine -- including Wake Forest's Aaron Curry.  [see more...]