IDL, LA Tech
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 284 lbs
Class: rs-Junior
Milton Williams was a two-star recruit out of high school having played football and basketball. He committed to LA Tech in 2017, before redshirting his freshman year. He broke out as a full-time starter as an edge in 2019, before bulking up and moving to the interior for his final season. Williams has been a late riser up draft boards after an incredibly impressive pro day performance and looks like a sure-fire day two pick.
You can read more of my 2021 NFL Draft content here.
Strengths
Williams is one of the most explosive defensive linemen in the 2021 class. His burst off the line is fantastic and he is clearly a rare athlete for the position. Williams’ pro day numbers were eye-popping and included a 38.5″ vertical and a 4.67 40-yard dash. He does a great job of converting this speed to power and this allows him to consistently make an impact against the run. His ability to stack and shed is impressive and he finished the 2020 season as the second highest graded interior run blocker in college football per PFF.
Where Williams really separates himself from most other interior linemen is in his ability to impact the passing game. His background as an edge rusher is on show here and he is incredibly disruptive. He possesses heavy and active hands and already possesses a number of different pass rushing moves. He keeps fighting throughout the rep and rarely loses one-on-one matchups. His 20.9 per cent pass rush win rate was the highest of any draft-eligible interior linemen in 2020. In total he racked up an impressive 30 pressures and six sacks on just 248 pass rushing snaps.
The other big plus to Williams’ game is the versatility he offers. He began his college career as an edge rusher and played there primarily until 2020. Whilst he is now bigger than a prototypical edge, he showcases the quickness and bend needed to win there in the NFL. As an interior lineman he has played at a number of different alignments for LA Tech and will be scheme independent and positionally versatile at the next level. Williams played mainly as a 4i-technique in the Bulldogs’ odd fronts and moved out to 5-tech in even fronts.
Weaknesses
The most notable weakness to Williams’ game is his size. At 6’3″ and 284 lbs, he is seriously undersized for an interior lineman in the NFL. He was able to get by at this size in college, but could struggle to translate his game if he doesn’t add more weight to his frame. In fairness, he only transitioned to the position full-time in 2020 and should be able to add more size in the future. Williams’ length is another notable weakness, with just 31.5″ arms. This ranks in the fifth percentile at the position. Whilst his excellent hand usage helps make up for this, it is still very short by NFL standards.
The other question mark will concern the level of competition he faced at LA Tech. Williams’ numbers were very impressive, but we didn’t see him face a tonne of NFL talent. His toughest test in 2020 came against BYU and that was easily Williams’ worst game of the season. He didn’t register a single pressure or defensive stop in that game. This will concern teams when projecting him to the next level.
Bottom Line
Williams is an exciting interior lineman in a class lacking depth. He is an explosive player, who has shown himself to be equally effective against the run and the pass. Whilst he lacks prototypical NFL size, he is not prohibitively small and there will be a tonne of teams willing to take a chance on his athletic profile. It feels like the best is yet to come with Williams and he is a high ceiling prospect.
Big Board Rank: #65
Positional Rank: #3
