Tim Williams Could Be Alabama's Best Sack Artist Since Derrick Thomas

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — When it comes to University of Alabama senior linebacker Tim Williams, the question isn’t if he can be good; it’s if he can be great.

Williams has that kind of potential. Maybe not quite Derrick Thomas potential when it comes to sacks but possibly the best at Alabama since the Hall of Fame linebacker last played for the Crimson Tide in 1988.

Did you see Williams come off the edge in the SEC title game and drop Florida quarterback Treon Harris in the fourth quarter? How about in the Cotton Bowl, when he blew past Michigan State tackle Jack Conklin, who went on to be the eighth overall selection in the NFL draft?

Perhaps you saw Alabama’s spring game when Williams was essentially unblockable. As with some other things about him, however, a disclaimer has to be given. The Alabama offensive line was without Cam Robinson, as the left tackle sat out A-Day after having shoulder surgery, and a true freshman played at right tackle.

It was almost unfair. Williams was so disruptive that he earned the Dwight Stephenson Award as the game’s most valuable lineman, in addition to a Lee Roy Jordan Headhunter Award from the coaches for spring practices.

“I treated everything like it was a game situation,” Williams said. “I really don’t care too much who it is. I care about going at the ball and the quarterback.”

You hear all the time about players who have so much going for them that the sky is the limit, yet with Williams it’s not an exaggeration. He has played in 34 games without having made a single start. As a pass-rushing specialist last season, he made just 19 tackles, but 12.5 were for loss, including 10.5 sacks.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Williams didn’t lead the Crimson Tide in sacks—Jonathan Allen did with 12—but the defensive end was on the field more. How well Williams makes the transition to every-down player, as he has taken over Denzel Devall’s former spot at strong-side linebacker, will define not only his legacy but possibly his career.

"He's always had good pass rush ability," head coach Nick Saban said.

"Tim's worked very hard, made a lot of sacrifices to try to get where he is right now, and we certainly appreciate it. A lot of people in our organization have tried to help and he's been very, very productive. It has nothing to do with ability. He's not pass rushing any better than what he did before, he's just more dependable doing his job. We've been able count on him to this point. I'd say that's the biggest difference."

Although Alabama probably would have recruited Williams regardless, his addition in 2013 corresponded with the program's emphasis on getting faster defensively, especially at linebacker, to counter all the no-huddle, uptempo offenses that were suddenly popular in the Southeastern Conference.

The real shock, though, was where running backs coach Burton Burns lured him from: Louisiana State University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, which is just like it sounds: a small lab school in the LSU system.

As a junior playing defensive end, he registered 115 tackles, including 45 for loss and 16 sacks, which drew offers from far and wide. The 247Sports composite rankings rated Williams as the third-best prospect in the state and 82nd overall.

Season
Derrick Thomas	1988	27.0
Derrick Thomas	1987	18.0
Jonathan Allen	2015	12.0
Emanuel King	1983	11.0
Tim Williams	2015	10.5
Eric Curry	1992	10.5
John Copeland	1992	10.5
Career
Derrick Thomas	1985-88	52.0
Kindal Moorehead	1998-2002	25.0
Jarret Johnson	1999-2002	23.0
Eric Curry	1990-92	22.5
Wallace Gilberry	2004-07	21.5

As a true freshman, Williams played in seven games, mostly on special teams, and was credited with three tackles, including one for loss, but was suspended for the entire 2014 training camp and had to work his way back up the depth chart.

Following a slow start, he made five tackles and 1.5 sacks in 12 games. The beginning of the 2015 season saw something similar, when Williams had just one tackle and no sacks through three games, only he turned a corner.

“He’s added speed, power, acceleration,” former defensive coordinator Kirby Smart said during the playoffs. “I don’t really know when it clicked. I would say somewhere in fall camp. He started to pick things up on third down, kind of became a specialist.

“Very sharp kid that’s picked it up as we’ve gone along. A lot of our calls and stuff are conducive for him to go fast, come off the edge, create havoc. He’s gotten better and better under coach Tosh [Lupoi]’s tutelage. He’s done a great job, getting better.”

Williams was named one of the coaching staff’s defensive players of the game against Louisiana-Monroe, and Lupoi started calling him “Razor” because he was so sharp coming off the edge.

Statistically, it didn’t show, but Williams was a real menace against LSU. A week later against Mississippi State, he notched five tackles, including two for loss and 1.5 sacks, all career highs as Alabama recorded nine sacks.

From the Auburn game on, Alabama was better on third downs than every opponent, which combined to convert just 13 of 56 opportunities (23.2 percent). In comparison, the Crimson Tide offense was 25 of 63 (40 percent) en route to the national championship.

“He has good size, but he’s not one of those guys that’s huge,” Robinson said about Williams after practicing against him last season. “He has good speed and explosiveness, and he uses those two things to get to the quarterback a lot. I think that’s what kind of sets him apart.”

Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

Williams is a rare player who has the kind of burst that when a quarterback sees he’s coming, it’s often already too late. It’s the rest of his game that he’s working on now—reading defenses, developing pass-coverage skills and holding up against the run, especially when teams such as Arkansas and LSU run right at him.

Consequently, the 6'4" Williams gained seven pounds before the spring, up to 237, and started working regularly with some of his bigger teammates, such as defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson.

“Because he’s a speed guy, a lot of players are just going to want him to go straight speed around the corner, but he’s been practicing on his power moves, too, like an inside defensive lineman,” Tomlinson said.

Name	Sacks	Yards
Jonathan Allen	12.0	88
Tim Williams	10.5	78
Ryan Anderson	6.0	41
Rashaan Evans	4.0	28
A'Shawn Robinson	3.5	19

Williams explained further: “When he says speed to power, it’s when I get down on third down and take a hard 10 yards, and [the tackle] thinks you do a move to the outside, but you set him up to do straight full-on power. Because he’s on his heels, when you do that, he’s going to topple over.”

“He taught me a lot about it, and said he’ll get me more sacks this year.”

Teammates also say that Williams has hit the film room in an effort to make the most of his opportunity. But a factor that can’t be overstated is that he’ll be playing with some extremely talented players, sort of like Thomas did when he notched an incredible 27 sacks in 1988 and 52 over his Crimson Tide career.

Thomas played alongside Cornelius Bennett, who is in the College Football Hall of Fame, and then Keith McCants, the fourth pick in the 1990 NFL draft.

Williams has Allen on the line, along with linebackers Reuben Foster and Ryan Anderson, who could also be poised for a big season. Alabama led the nation with 53 sacks last season and returns its top four players in that statistical category.

Going back to A-Day, the first time a quarterback went back to pass, Anderson quickly dropped him. It was the first of 16 sacks for the defense that afternoon. Williams had two, along with three hurries.

“I thought Williams would have been a first-round pick,” ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. said during a teleconference with reporters shortly after the 2016 draft was completed.

"I was surprised frankly that Nick Saban was able to convince Williams [to stay] or somehow Williams and Allen felt the need to go back. We saw a lot of players come out that shouldn't have. I thought Williams, the momentum he built up at the end of the year, and the way this league is for pass-rushers, he would have gone really high.”

On his too-early 2017 Big Board, Kiper has Williams second overall, between Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett and LSU running back Leonard Fournette. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller rates him 11th, but with the same kind of upside.  

"Now, next year, if he can duplicate or build on what he did, Tim Williams is a top-five pick," Kiper said. "He's like a Khalil Mack, that kind of player."

Mack was the fifth overall pick in 2014 out of Buffalo. That’s one spot behind when Kansas City selected Thomas in 1989.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.