Stadium-Armory Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Nice to see the the big guy getting some recognition early on. http://blog.redskins.com/ As the reviews have come in on the Redskins following Sunday night's win over the Dallas Cowboys, there's been one thing that's pretty much constant: praise for rookie left tackle Trent Williams. His teammates were impressed, for example. Here's Chris Cooley, fielding a question about Williams during his Monday appearance on 106.7's The LaVar Arrington Show With Chad Dukes: "Trent Williams is, bar none, the best athlete as an offensive lineman that I've seen since I've been in the league," Cooley said. "The guy can move. It was funny: we were in Phoenix; none of us played, we just went out and ran, and then all the receivers ran routes with the quarterbacks. Trent Williams went out and ran routes with us. The dude can run routes. He's probably as fast as me." (Don't believe me? It's in Podcast 3 here.) That "probably as fast as me" sentiment was put to the test in Sunday's game, as you can see in the video above. In case you can't watch the video and don't remember the play: Williams is the lead downfield blocker on a screen pass to Cooley and, indeed, not only keeps up with Cooley but completely manhandles the safety. Here's what former Stanford left tackle Ben Muth wrote about the play over on Football Outsiders: Up next was the Trent Williams show featuring Chris Cooley. Cooley caught a tight end screen and ran for the first down. But the star of the play was Trent Williams, who pulled and blocked the safety all the way out of bounds. What makes the play so impressive is the fact that it is so hard for an offensive lineman to block defensive backs in open space like that. Usually, a defensive back will give a shoulder fake or simply hop around a big offensive tackle and leave him flailing at air. In fact, that scenario is so common that many offensive line coaches just teach their guys to cut in the open field with the idea being they have a better chance of hitting their defender -- and even if they miss, the defender will at least have to jump over them, or stop his feet to avoid them. But to be athletic enough to lock onto a safety like Williams did without holding is really remarkable. Muth rates Williams's entire debut as a success, in fact. Here's more from Muth: Williams did a lot of things very well. He was great at the second level, and in space. He seems to have a very a natural talent of locking onto defenders off the line of scrimmage, a skill that very few offensive lineman really have. The most obvious example of this was on the screen pass to Chris Cooley in the first quarter where he pulled outside, locked onto a safety and drove him straight to the sideline. For the most part, he also did a tremendous job in pass protection. (That's actually a fascinating article all around, and full of compliments for the performance of the Redskins' offensive line. I highly recommend reading the entire thing, not just these excerpts.) Williams faces another tough test this week, in Texans' former first-overall-pick Mario Wiliams. But everyone (including me) wrote the "tough matchup against DeMarcus Ware" articles last week, and as these reviews show, that game went pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 I'm glad we got a solid replacement for Chris Samuels. He's got a stiff test coming up against Mario Williams. Let's hope he can keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tochenzo Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Just read that article, awesome footage of Trent! Holding Ware down to only 1 sack and pretty much nothing else all game, I'm confident he'll keep Mario off of McNabb! This will be a good test of Trent's strength now that he's proved his athletic ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peeping Wizard Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 I'm glad we got a solid replacement for Chris Samuels. He's got a stiff test coming up against Mario Williams. Let's hope he can keep up the good work. If Williams has a good showing against MW I think we can be fairly confident in moving our draft choice to the "non-bust" column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSO Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Yeah, it's official, he's awesome. Dare I say, better than... ok, I'll wait a bit longer for that, lol. And to think, there were people up in arms when we chose him over Okung or, at the very least, lobbying for Okung the whole time beforehand. Looks like a lot of us have got to get used to being totally wrong when it comes to going against Shanahan's decisions, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExoDus84 Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 I was on the Okung bandwagon during the draft, but I definitely think we made the right choice in drafting Trent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBnotBlades Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 I was on the Okung bandwagon during the draft, but I definitely think we made the right choice in drafting Trent. Me too. I'm happy to admit that my doubts about Trent Williams were proven incorrect. He looked great Sunday night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsCrushCowboys Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 I was on the Okung bandwagon during the draft, but I definitely think we made the right choice in drafting Trent. I was also an Okung guy,,,. Trent appears to be doing it all the right way, hard worker, willing to learn, has that mean streak in him, Very happy with him and hope he is the anchor of the line for years. Is Chris Samuels still wokring with him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolUsernameHere Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 That video is an awesome example of how good Williams is and can be. I just hope he keeps up with Mario this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scruffylookin Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 This shouldn't come as a big surprise really. Wasn't Williams drafted over Okung exactly because he was superior in moving and laying blocks down field? The play he made on the Cooley screen is exactly why the Skins rated him higher than Okung. The thing that has been impressive to me about Williams is just how good he's been at traditional pass pro. Both in preseason and now after week 1, the guy has done a very good job protecting the back side. He was an excellent selection by ShanAllen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoRUSupposed2Be Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Looks like ShanAllen have earnt 1 pt. in the draft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Dog Night Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Well I would wait at least a season or two before making any major declarations, or at least more than one game , but it certainly looks like the NFL is not too big for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahons21 Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 That play where Trent just drove the safety out of bounds was poetry in motion. I could just feel my smile growing from ear to ear as Williams kept moving him further and further away. Anyone seen a photo of this play by any chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stadium-Armory Posted September 17, 2010 Author Share Posted September 17, 2010 Mario Williams will definitely be a good test. I watched the entire Texans Indy game last weekend, and I also noticed that they moved Williams around often. They even had him over the center on a number of plays. I'm afraid of what he might to do Rabach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboomking Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 This shouldn't come as a big surprise really.Wasn't Williams drafted over Okung exactly because he was superior in moving and laying blocks down field? The play he made on the Cooley screen is exactly why the Skins rated him higher than Okung. The thing that has been impressive to me about Williams is just how good he's been at traditional pass pro. Both in preseason and now after week 1, the guy has done a very good job protecting the back side. He was an excellent selection by ShanAllen. I agree with your entire post. I also admit to being on the Okung bandwagon, and being disappointed by the Williams pick. I'm also not surprised by his excellent run blocking, and am surprised by his excellent pass blocking. I would not have expected that we would be able to leave TW on an island against Ware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyUtah Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Shanahan definitely knows how to draft o-line. It feels so great (and a little strange) to have a nasty, athletic o-lineman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bantu Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 I love TW!! Like a lot of you guys have already said, I was on the Okung bandwagon as well. However, the difference is that as soon as the rumors were out that we may pickup TW, I was ok with it. It showed me that this front office actually has a mind of their own and didn't just follow what all the talking heads were saying, unlike stupid Cerrato. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman21ST Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Looks like a lot of us have got to get used to being totally wrong when it comes to going against Shanahan's decisions, lol. Haha, I was thinking the same thing. The defensive back in me (only about 10-15%) was a little upset that we didn't get Berry (not to mention years of being used to Vinny's flashy picks), but after watching Trent and everything he can do, I'm completely satisfied with the pick. It's a new feeling not knowing what the FO will do, and I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraveWarrior Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 TW look like a good draft day decision. To do a pretty good job against Ware in his first NFL game says a lot. I mostly liked that he didn't look hesitant or scared going up against such a good player. Sure, he had a couple issues, but they were correctable things. My favorite play of the night for our offense was on that run where TW blocked his man downfield and drove him right out of bounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregpeck99 Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Its amazing how the homers on this site get carried away at the drop of a pin. Way too early to anoint TWilliams as the next great OLineman in Skins' lore. But he is lookin good so far. Ditto Hicks and Brown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stadium-Armory Posted September 17, 2010 Author Share Posted September 17, 2010 Its a good feeling to draft a home run. I'm not willing to go as far as Sean Taylor or Chris Samuels status quite yet, but he's definitely got the potential to be one of the best draft picks we've made in a long long time. And I too was on board with Okung - seeing as he was the safer pick. After years of appointment, I wanted a sure thing! Glad I am not in charge. Nicely done coach, and GO Get 'em TW!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CounterTrey Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 BTW was has Okung been upto? I am sure he's not been labeled a bust or anything..he must be doing good for Seattle? Anyone care to update me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stadium-Armory Posted September 17, 2010 Author Share Posted September 17, 2010 BTW was has Okung been upto? I am sure he's not been labeled a bust or anything..he must be doing good for Seattle? Anyone care to update me... He sprained his ankle in pre-season and missed week1. He's going to miss this week also, and maybe week 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 whats cool is the back to basics bread and butter type players the skins have added via the draft. RAK and now Silverback. good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 So much for all the post draft BS from the ESPN draftniks about the Redskins 'blowing' the pick and not taking Russell Okung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.