“Most Underrated Linebacker in Football”
An Interview with D.J. Williams
by Paul
Eide
Senior Writer
9/20/08
For most NFL
fans outside of Denver D.J. Williams isn’t a household name. But the
Denver
Broncos front office is betting $32 million dollars that it won’t stay
that way
for long.
Less than two
weeks ago starting linebacker Williams signed a five year, $32 million
dollar
deal with $13 million in guaranteed money that many felt was past due.
Over the
previous four years Williams has been Denver’s
most reliable defender suiting up and excelling at each of the three
linebacking positions in Denver’s
4-3 scheme. Williams spent 2004 at the weak side, 2005-06 on the strong
side
and 2007 as the middle linebacker before returning to his preferred
position of
weak side linebacker for the 2008 season which was slated to be the
final year
of his five year rookie contract.
The new contract
puts him amongst the top five highest paid non rushing LB’s in the NFL,
alongside names like Lofa Tatupu and Keith Bullock. Williams 141
tackles a year
ago were second most in the NFL and his 12 tackles (one sack) thru the
first
two games of 2008 lead the Broncos.
How nice was it to
finalize the
contract prior to week one?
“Actually,
it took a lot of my mind and that’s why the Broncos do it. They try to
get the
contracts done prior to the year starting so their players can focus on
making
plays, not worry about where they are going to be next year.”
Difference between last
season’s
start and this year’s 2-0 start
“We
gell a
lot better this year. We made a few minor adjustments, like moving Nate
Webster
to MLB and me to WLB. But going thru an off-season after a 6-10 season,
that
makes you work extra hard because you don’t want to go thru that again.”
What is wrong with the
Raiders?
“Same
problem we had last year, they just aren’t gelling. They have a lot of
talent
but they just aren’t playing together. But it’s a long season, its only
week
three. We had a few extra days to prepare for the Raiders. Plus it’s a
rivalry
game on a Monday so it wasn’t all their fault; we were ready to play.”
What was going thru your
mind when
coach Shanahan decided to go for two last week?
“It wasn’t a
knock on the defense at all like some people are saying. I just
believed he had
faith in the offense; one play to win the game and it turned out to be
a great
decision.”
Do you think LT has lost a
step?
“He
started
off last season poorly and the team struggled and look how they
finished up.
Him and the team turned it on after that and they were within one game
of the
Super Bowl. LT is battling a turf toe injury right now but he hasn’t
lost a
step. Once he heals all the way he’ll be back to normal.”
Is Darren Sproles for real?
“Definitely,
you saw it on Sunday with the return and the screen play. He’s quick
has great
balance and is strong. People knock him for his size but I think it
helps him
because he is hard to see in the back field.”
What about Eddie Royal so
far?
“He
really
picked it up when we needed it with Brandon Marshall out. The first
game he
basically single handedly beat the Raiders and then versus the Chargers
he made
two huge catches to win the game.”
Click here for the rest of Michael Cooper and
Paul Eide’s interview
