One thing that was so strange about the Senior Bowl is there were not one but TWO players that came from nowhere to impress even though they were coming out of BIG schools. The first one I spotlighted was Cornelius Washington of Georgia. Next up to the plate is Vince Williams. These are guys we should've already known about. Who doesn't watch Florida State or Georgia play, on the regular? In Cornelius Washington's case what you had was a player that looked sluggish and average because he was being asked to do a lot of things he's only average at doing, rather than the things at which he's above average. In the case of Vince Williams, I can only blame the likes of Bjoern Werner, Tank Carridine, Christian Jones, Xavier Rhodes, Timmy Jernigan, Lamarcus Joyner, Ronald Darby, Karlos Williams, etc. This is a defense that is making NFL plays constantly, because they have so many NFL players. Could it be that a quality NFL player just got lost in the mix because there are so many on the same defense? It has been known to happen every now and then. With as much talent as shakes off Alabama each year, you still get a Brandon Deaderick every now and again who comes to the NFL and actually plays NFL quality football and a lot of snaps, yet went in the 7th round and was an afterthought coming out of the same program as Terrance Cody (who hasn't really done jack), Javier Arenas, Kareem Jackson, and Rolando McClain. You could almost say Deaderick has been as good as any of those guys. Here's the best video you can find that focuses on him specifically: [video=youtube;jIlUZg3Li-Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlUZg3Li-Y[/video] And this is just a bonus, because I found it funny and cliche: [video=youtube;6o8V0VYvwDA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o8V0VYvwDA[/video] I will say that the way he stood out in Senior Bowl practices was with the same closing burst that made him stand out during the game and in his highlight videos. Mike Mayock and Charles Davis alluded to it during the broadcast. Davis asked Mayock if he remembered the play Vince made in practice. Truthfully I don't think either of them really remembered it except that they remembered he made one. But during the week of practice they were practically giddy. Dalton Freeman the guard had pulled from right guard on to left on a power play, and Vince Williams recognized, it came in with that closing burst and sent Freeman flying backwards. Mayock actually asked for a couple of replays of the play. If you want better than a highlight video, I suggest looking for other players' highlights. Bjoern Werner has an innumerable number of games capped on YouTube. Carridine has a bunch too. You'll find Xavier Rhodes capped, even Christian Jones though he's not in the 2013 NFL Draft yet. Just look for inside linebacker #11. Here are some of those videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tgtpB_yai4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQTs2hHaxC8 There's something about this guy that speaks to me. He's only 6004 in the height department but he carries a VERY solid 247 lbs on his frame. Yet on that Florida State defense he looks small, lol. I think the height is plenty. The height doesn't stand in the way of a ton of guys that are good linebackers and really good football players. I'm not easily impressed by linebackers, to a fault. I often see a guy play that people are high on and I just don't see it. I can't help it sometimes. Even guys that end up good, like Bobby Wagner who had a fantastic rookie year with Seattle. Zach Brown and Dont'a Hightower, same thing. I'd say this is my position that I'm just not very good at evaluating but I've got hits on guys I thought far better than everyone seemed to think, including NaVorro Bowman, Daryl Washington, Brandon Spikes, etc. I was appropriately high on guys like Sean Weatherspoon, Demeco Ryans, Brian Cushing, Jerod Mayo, Lawrence Timmons and Luke Kuechly. I think I had Bruce Carter nailed for what he was. I've got hits on underrated guys that have been a lot more solid than people would've thought like Kavell Conner, Phil Wheeler, Kaluka Maiava, K.J. Wright, James-Michael Johnson, Stephen Nicholas, Jacquian Williams, . I don't feel unjustified for having been down on guys like Rolando McClain, Kelvin Sheppard or Rey Maualuga. Have my share of misses (Aaron Curry, Keith Rivers, Dekoda Watson, Ross Homan come to mind), so I'm not even saying I'm better than average with this position. Just overall it always seems like linebackers aren't impressing me as often as I'd think they would. But back to Vince Williams, something about how compact he is, how quick he is, his closing burst, the ability to deal with trash, pop up off the carpet, etc...it just speaks to me. He's just always playing at full speed, running full out to beat blockers to the spot he knows where the ball is going. He'll anticipate plays and use his athleticism to impact it. That play in Senior Bowl practice was a great example. He saw the power play developing and there was just this immediate click in his head to hit the nitro booster and knock the pulling guard into tomorrow so that one of his teammates can make a play on the football. Or on a toss play against the Hurricanes, he sees the toss and it just clicks in his head, sprint at a dead run to the lane that the RB is trying to get to. Because he sprinted like that, he beats two offensive linemen that were trying to get out to him on cut-off blocks. Did he make the play? No. Because he's on a defense with a bunch of goddamn good players and they made the play before he could even get there. But it doesn't change that he did a good job on it. It's that fast click decision making though, that's what gets me about him. There's a play-action, they're faking a lead power play, he reads the run action, runs up, hits the guard in the hole, recognizes that the QB kept the ball, and back pedals out into coverage all in the space of 2 seconds, and there he is back out in coverage keeping an eye on his zone. Or there's a screen play that starts out like a drop back pass, the tight end is coming out to his zone and so he hits the guy to screw up the timing, but while he's doing that he sees the back coming out to the flat for the screen, and immediately he starts heading over there. He trips because he was still tangled with the tight end. He pops off the carpet with zero hesitation knowing exactly where he needs to be, sprinting as fast as he can trying to get to the outside shoulder of the pulling OL that can now get to him thanks to him tripping, and so he gets to the outside to try and make a play on the ball. Was the play on the ball successful? No. He was behind the 8 ball already because he tripped and it allowed the OL to get on him to where he had to sprint to the sideline to outrun him, and the RB was able to cut inside of him because of that. Even so, his DECISIVE and FAST action forced the ball back to the inside where Tank Carridine could get back into the play and pull the ball carrier down. Had Vince Williams not tripped, there is absolutely no doubt he makes this play for a loss or zero gain. He recognized it that early, he's that decisive, and that athletic. He just speaks to me. That's all there is to it. He's going up near the top of my inside linebacker board. And I already have a fair number of inside linebackers I like.
Nice write up, I agree. I really like what I've seen from Christian Jones as well, plays tough inside and his coverage skill's are safety like in the back end.
Christian Jones had a pretty big fvck-up against Clemson letting Andre Ellington get waaaay behind him while he bit hard on roll-out, but otherwise Jones is good as well. And he must be pretty big to make Vince Williams look small! Williams is peaking at exactly the right time. Two of his three best games of the year came in the final two games against Georgia Tech and in the Orange Bowl versus Northern Illinois. No coincidence those were RUNNING teams. That's the thing you notice when watching all the FSU game tape. They took him off the field in nickel and dime and they spent a lot of time in those personnel groups. In those final two games he had 16 tackles, 3.0 TFLs and 1.0 Sacks. Then he followed up with a really strong Senior Bowl. Thing is based on what I've seen, I don't see any reason to say that coverage is a weakness for him. He's fast, he's agile, he recognizes routes early, he really hustles on the field at all times, he uses his hands. He seems particularly adept in man coverage. They just had guys they liked better to defend the pass, including especially Christian Jones.
It stood out to me as well, that he was on the field on a lot of power run personnel for the offense. Weirdly though, not necessarily in goalline situations. Perhaps the opponents ran too many screens (I think he was beaten by one at the goalline, actually... or am I now mixing him up with a guy I watched earlier today)? I am not as enamored by Vinnie as you are, but I can understand what you see. Definitely like his smart approach and recognition. The speedy runningback went on a toss left on one play and only because he resisted the urge to tyr to tackle him for a loss was he able to take the PERFECT angle to make the play. Yes he gave up a first down, but most LB,s either play that too safe and give up a couple more yards, or cut too close to try to stuff the RB and get left in the dust entirely! He literally took the OPTIMAL angle to BARELY make that tackle while conceding the minimum number of yards. THAT kind of judgement impresses me. He did have a nice pass breakup on a jam and then drop down the seam. I don't know where you take this guy... he's more athletic than other run-thumpers like Jasper B rinkley (I loved him coming out), and Brinkley went in the 5th round. I could see the third round, maybe the second if his speed, change of direction, broad jump etc test really well at the combine. He's one of those guys, like Keith Bulluck was at OLB, who may turn into a very good pro who never quite gets accolades (except, of course, Keith was at least noticed enough to be a first rounder). Actually, given Bulluck's speed and Williams not-as-fast feet it may be a poor comparison other than how I am projecting their level of celebrity over a career.
I actually was watching all the Senior Bowl practices and came across Williams as well. I do think he has really helped his draft stock and could end up being a mid 3rd rounder. I agree he has shown adequate speed and hip flexibility to show he could be alright in pass coverage.
