Scouting Report: Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee

Ht: 6'2 Wt: 329 40: 5.23

Strengths: Great height and weight. Carries weight pretty well. Has very good athletic ability. Shows great power and strength. Good tackler. He uses his hands very well and displays a great ability to shed blockers. He can be very quick off the snap. He has a very good stance and spreads his feet apart to form a good base when fighting off blocks; this shows good technique. He also keeps his feet moving when engaged with blockers; which shows his good footwork. Does a good job of consistently staying low and getting underneath the opposing lineman's pads. Has proven that he can take on the double team. Tremendous run-stopper. Often clogs up the middle, which takes away running lanes for the back. He has a good amount of awareness; can read screens, mis-directions and keeps his eyes on the quarterback during passes. Has the body of a true nose tackle, but is able to play in both 3-4 and 4-3 defensive schemes.

Weaknesses: Not much of a pass rusher. He mainly only uses the bull rush move, and that won't always work in the NFL. He will need to improve on other moves (swim, rip ect..). Needs to improve on his overall endurance. I would like to see him be more consistent overall as well.

Summary: Dan Williams has improved his draft stock immensely during his senior season. He had a great senior year at Tennessee and he looked very strong and athletic at the senior bowl. He has proven to be one of the most dominant nose tackles in this year's draft class. Watching tape on Williams has been a blast. He can be an absolute monster at times. Williams has amazing athletic ability and shows great strength. He has shown that he can take on double teams and anchor himself in the middle of the field. He uses his hands very well and he has the ability to shed blockers and be a real force as a run stopper. He often looks unblock-able when he gets underneath the opposing lineman's pads. Has the look of an ideal nose tackle in the NFL. However, he needs to improve the moves he uses. The bull rush is a great move and can be very effective; however, in the NFL he will need to use more variety in order to beat veteran offensive lineman. He also will need to improve his motor and overall endurance. Overall, I see a great amount of potential in Williams and with a great season and senior bowl behind him, I see him going off the board in the top 25 picks.

Draft Projection: Top 25