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Homer: trent williams passes first test

themurf

By themurf
in The Stadium

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themurf

themurf

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twilliams081910.jpg

(photo by Brian Murphy)

While many focused on the debuts of Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb, my attention was drawn elsewhere as the Washington Redskins faced the Buffalo Bills in their preseason opener.

More than anything, I was interested in seeing how rookie left tackle Trent Williams handled the first real challenge of his professional career. Its one thing to go against teammates in practice, but it’s a completely different animal when you’re thrown into action against a hungry opponent.

Well, it took just three offensive plays for Williams to leave a lasting impression on me.

Williams will undoubtedly have several highs and lows as he settles into one of the most challenging positions in sports, but the Oklahoma product showed what he’s made of during that first drive.

The Redskins faced 3rd-and-8 on their own 18-yard line. As the ball was snapped, Bills linebacker Aaron Marbin, the 11th pick in the 2009 NFL draft, kicked it into high gear in pursuit of quarterback Donovan McNabb.

While Maybin, who is 6-4 and 250 lbs., is much smaller and quicker than Williams, the left tackle had no issue keeping up with the Bills’ speed rusher and continued to steer him further and further away from his quarterback.

McNabb, with all the time in the world, connected with tight end Chris Cooley for an 11-yard gain to keep the drive alive. And by the time the play was over, Maybin was at least 10 yards away from McNabb.

If this was a sign of things to come, then it’s safe to say the Redskins made the right decision drafting Williams as the successor to perennial Pro Bowler Chris Samuels. I caught up with Williams this week to get his thoughts on his Redskins debut.

“I feel really good now that I got that first one out of the way,” Williams said. “It was really nerve racking. But it feels great now that it’s over.”

Now that you’ve had a couple of days to watch film and break down the Bills game, how do you think you did?

“I think I did okay,” he said. “Nothing amazing and I can definitely do better, but I think I did okay for my first game. I thought after I got the first play over with that I would settle down, but I was still nervous the whole game.”

For what it’s worth, you didn’t really look nervous or out of place out there …

“Yeah, but as long as McNabb is in there, I was walking on egg shells,” Williams said. “He’s so vital to our franchise. We don’t nobody to lay a finger on him.”

That’s exactly what it looked like you were doing out there on that first third down when you absolutely owned Aaron Maybin. What’s your mindset on a play like that when a smaller guy like that is trying to blow by you?

Click here for full article.

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JustAfan47

JustAfan47

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The Redskins faced 3rd-and-8 on their own 18-yard line. As the ball was snapped, Bills linebacker Aaron Marbin, the 11th pick in the 2009 NFL draft, kicked it into high gear in pursuit of quarterback Donovan McNabb.

While Maybin, who is 6-4 and 250 lbs., is much smaller and quicker than Williams, the left tackle had no issue keeping up with the Bills’ speed rusher and continued to steer him further and further away from his quarterback.

McNabb, with all the time in the world, connected with tight end Chris Cooley for an 11-yard gain to keep the drive alive. And by the time the play was over, Maybin was at least 10 yards away from McNabb.

I loved this part of your article!... Plus watching it too. :)

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LetThePointsSoar

LetThePointsSoar

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Thanks Murf, I always get excited to read a new piece from you, love your work.

"Talking with Doug Farrar out the Football Outsiders, he strongly believes that the best thing that could have happened to Williams was playing for Shanahan."

Couldn't agree more with this - TW had work ethic questions coming out, but (and I KNOW it's early to judge) but so far, there have been nothing but positives about Silverback. Here's to hoping he's a lifetime Skin and shores up the LT spot for a LONG time.

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authentic

authentic

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Nice interview bro....BTW there's 2 days left before we play the Ravens. I'll be looking at how he matches up against Suggs; hoping that he pancakes him once or twice. The trash that Suggs talked after we played them in 08 still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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HailGreen28

HailGreen28

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Great article, Murf! Informative quotes, how Trent was nervous trying to protect McNabb, his watching film, and his OU days.

Much more professionally written than Mosely's article that Kindred referenced. You let the player speak for himself. Mosely, who should be "unbiased", fills his article with his take on "sources" and Dallass jizz coming out of his mouth.

You quoting TW: “Yeah, but as long as McNabb is in there, I was walking on egg shells,” Williams said. “He’s so vital to our franchise. We don’t nobody to lay a finger on him.”

Mosely describing TW: I shudder to think what he'll look like in that first game against DeMarcus Ware. I flew back from Indianapolis with both of those players after the combine. Williams didn't recognize Ware on that flight. Something tells me he won't have a problem putting a face to a name Sept. 12.

Murf, you should really have Mosely's job if you wanted it. Even if you didn't tone down your own homerism, it'd be no worse than Mosely's. And much better written.

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Braxford

Braxford

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Murf, I don't know if I've ever said this before, but your photos that accompany your articles are excellent :yes: :applause:...Just top notch.

Good read, too, and good interview...

The pics are great, always. And of course more wonderful work from Murf. Williams has me excited, of course there is a learning curve but watching how he plays and his attitude, he just seems to have "it". BTW, what do you guys think of the new hats , like in the pic. I am not a fan of them.

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LetThePointsSoar

LetThePointsSoar

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BTW, what do you guys think of the new hats , like in the pic. I am not a fan of them.

I'm not a fan either, but then again, I don't know about everyone else, but I have THE HARDEST time finding Skins hats I DO like. I found two last year both from lids.com that I kinda liked, one was a black on black, and the other was the slouch cap w/ the "R" logo, but those are the only two I've found in years I really liked.

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Cept One

Cept One

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I'm not a fan either, but then again, I don't know about everyone else, but I have THE HARDEST time finding Skins hats I DO like. I found two last year both from lids.com that I kinda liked, one was a black on black, and the other was the slouch cap w/ the "R" logo, but those are the only two I've found in years I really liked.

Check out

http://www.mitchellandness.com/Departments/NFL/Washington-Redskins.aspx?sortorder=1&page=2

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LeftCoast Skinz FAN

LeftCoast Skinz FAN

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First off, great read as always Murf. I enjoy your articles a lot.

Second, I was against us drafting Williams and not Okung. But the more I read about this guy and watch him in action the more I am super happy about the pick. He was a great pickup and Shanny saw something in him that none of us, since we are not coaches or talent scouts, saw.

Welcome to DC and I hope you stay for quite some time.

:logo:

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themurf

themurf

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Thanks to all of you for the very kind words. At this point in the comments at least someone is usually telling me I'm a moron, but I think absolutely every Redskins fan out there is praying Trent Williams is the real deal. Because of that, no one is in a hurry to take the opposing viewpoint.

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LetThePointsSoar

LetThePointsSoar

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Thanks Cept

Thanks to all of you for the very kind words. At this point in the comments at least someone is usually telling me I'm a moron, but I think absolutely every Redskins fan out there is praying Trent Williams is the real deal. Because of that, no one is in a hurry to take the opposing viewpoint.

I would agree with you murf, but here's to hoping he never gives the naysayers any ammunition to pipe up. Hail!!!

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brianm23

brianm23

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Like the article Murf, and I like what I see in TW. Hope he keeps this up his entire career.

Thanks to all of you for the very kind words. At this point in the comments at least someone is usually telling me I'm a moron

OMG YOU MORON. Just kidding. Didn't want to disappoint you or throw you off the normal routine.

:pfft:

Where are the analysts that proclaimed we reached the most/got the riskiest pick in this draft? *crickets*

/edit oh yeah here they are:

Hi dave goldberg!

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/04/25/dirty-dozen-the-drafts-riskiest-picks/

Whats that matt mosley?

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/13608/nfc-east-draft-analysis-2

Newsflash: He hasn't even played one game yet, so how exactly are they wrong in their opinions? They were right in that it was a high risk/reward draft pick. Let's wait for a few seasons before we start proclaiming this guy as a solid draft pick.

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