Baltimore Ravens: Why Brandon Williams Rocks

The Baltimore Ravens have to be pleased with the performance of nose guard, Brandon Williams. Williams has developed into one of the best 3-4 nose guards in the NFL.

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In a season where Murphy’s law has been in full effect, it is important to note what is going right. Williams has played outstanding and appears to be the hardest working defensive tackle the Ravens have. So what makes Williams so incredible?

The 6’1″ 335 lineman has the perfect build for the job. He has mostly muscle, meaning he packs a punch. He has a great explosiveness off the ball that can blow up centers and guards. Williams is a good old-fashioned space eater, he fills gaps and bounces rushing plays outside.

Williams is not a pass rusher, it just is not his game. That being said Williams can really push back the pocket. He has 3.5 sacks in his three years with the Ravens. Williams will swat down the occasional pass, he does a good job putting his hand up when he know he can’t get to the quarterback.

Williams is one of the young players the Ravens are hoping to build a defense around. The core defensive pieces right now are C.J. Mosley, Jimmy Smith and Williams. Williams is the anchor of the Ravens defense.

The Ravens defensive line as a group has been a little disappointing. Timmy Jernigan has played inconsistently and he was benched early this season because of his inconsistent motor. Jernigan has also committed foolish penalties that have painfully kept opponent’s drives alive. Chris Canty has been solid but nothing special. Lawrence Guy is a decent player. But as a unit the defensive line was not as dominant as projected.

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Grading individually though Williams is the lone standout. Because he does the dirty work on the interior of the defensive line his numbers will never be flashy. If you watch the games though, you can see the impact Williams makes for the Baltimore Ravens.