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In our final installment breaking down the defense, we look at an important front seven player . . .
Q)What are you looking for from Leonard Williams?
Kacy Rodgers – Jets defensive coordinator: When you look at Leonard he’s a prideful guy to go from seven sacks to two sacks. Of course he wants his numbers up and of course we do too, but then we look back because we look at kind of the big picture, he was kind of high on quarterback hits, so you know sometimes you get there and sometimes you don’t, but he’s hitting the quarterback, he’s around the quarterback, he’s a very disruptive player for us.
Leberfeld: I don’t have a big issue with Williams sack total last year. In a 3-4 defense, the big sack guys should be the outside linebackers. The interior linemen do a lot of the dirty work.
Of course, getting more sacks from Williams would be helpful to the Jets, but there are a few things you need to consider about last season.
The lack of an edge rush was getting Williams double-teamed a lot. And when he’s getting double-teamed, you need the edge guys to beat single-blocks, and that was rarely happening. The interior linemen and outside rushers have a symbiotic. If the Jets had a dynamic edge-rusher or two, that required extra blocking attention, it would open up more opportunities for Williams and guys inside. The Jets’ outside linebackers were usually handled by one blocker last year, and that clogs up the middle with extra blockers.
I’m not here to make excuses for Williams, but the Jets lack of dynamos coming off the edge, continues to hurt their defense.
And here is something else to consider about Williams – his wrist was messed up for a big chunk of last season.
He hurt his wrist in the summer and it lingered into the season. Look, I understand all NFL players have something wrong with them during the season. The NFL has a 100 percent injury rate, but a wrist injury, for a defensive lineman, is a bad injury. The position calls for a lot of clutching of offensive lineman, so much stacking and shedding. You have a messed-up wrist, and it certainly diminishes the power of your hands to jolt blockers.
Another issue for Williams was the Jets mostly substandard cornerback play last year. When targets are flashing open quickly on a regular basis, it’s hard to get to the quarterback.
Hey, I understand the Jets need a monster season from Williams in 2018. And he needs one with his first contract winding down. Second contracts are the most important deals for most NFL players, and Williams obviously wants a mega-deal. He needs to dominate this year. Yes, the Jets picked up Williams fifth-year option for 2019, but if he has a big season, they are probably going to look to give him a long-term extension, and not have him play on a one-year, $14 million deal.
I understand the spring isn’t tackle football, but watching Williams closely, he looked terrific, beating offensive linemen into gaps regularly. He’s in the best shape of his career and looked very quick.
The Jets have a lot of concerns entering 2018, and I don’t think Leonard Williams is one of them.
June 29, 2018
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