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Position: G
Age: 28 (Will be 29 at start of 2014-2015 season)
Height: 6'6
Weight: 326 lbs.
College: Vanderbilt
Drafted: 1st Round, 14th overall in the 2008 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears
Previous NFL Team: St. Louis Rams
Contract Figures: Signed with the Bills on March 11th, 2014 - 4 Years, $13.5 Million Total, $3.025 Million in 2014.
Chris Williams was a highly touted prospect out of Vanderbilt. He was 2nd Team All-SEC in 2006 and 1st Team ALL-SEC in 2007. Williams was drafted the following April by the Chicago Bears in the middle of the 1st round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
Chris Williams played 3 different positions along the OL for the Bears which included RT to start, followed by time at LT and after an injury in 2010, he manned the LG position which is where he expects to play in Buffalo. Chris Williams was released during the 2012 season.
Less than a week later after being cut by the Bears, he signed with the St. Louis Rams during October of the 2012 season. Williams appeared in 3 games with St. Louis, not starting any. The following season, in 2013, Williams started all 16 games as a member of the St. Louis Rams at the LG position. This was only the second time in his 6 year career that he started every guy as a member of his respective team. As a former 1st round pick, that's not very impressive.
Internet Rankings:
College: Vanderbilt
Drafted: 1st Round, 14th overall in the 2008 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears
Previous NFL Team: St. Louis Rams
Contract Figures: Signed with the Bills on March 11th, 2014 - 4 Years, $13.5 Million Total, $3.025 Million in 2014.
Chris Williams was a highly touted prospect out of Vanderbilt. He was 2nd Team All-SEC in 2006 and 1st Team ALL-SEC in 2007. Williams was drafted the following April by the Chicago Bears in the middle of the 1st round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
Chris Williams played 3 different positions along the OL for the Bears which included RT to start, followed by time at LT and after an injury in 2010, he manned the LG position which is where he expects to play in Buffalo. Chris Williams was released during the 2012 season.
Less than a week later after being cut by the Bears, he signed with the St. Louis Rams during October of the 2012 season. Williams appeared in 3 games with St. Louis, not starting any. The following season, in 2013, Williams started all 16 games as a member of the St. Louis Rams at the LG position. This was only the second time in his 6 year career that he started every guy as a member of his respective team. As a former 1st round pick, that's not very impressive.
Internet Rankings:
- Rotoworld - 21st G (One spot behind former Buffalo Bill Jamon Meredith)
- Walter Football - 17th G
- CBS Sports - Not ranked in Top 10 G's
- SB Nation - Not ranked in Top 15 G's
- Yahoo! - 21st G (One spot behind former Buffalo Bill Jamon Meredith)
- Silver Lining Sports - Not ranked in the top 12 G's
Role in Buffalo: Williams will be slotted into the LG spot between Cordy Glenn and Eric Wood.
I like that Williams is a former 1st round pick and that he's versatile. He seems like an ideal backup OL candidate. I would love for him to be backing up both G spots and the RT position in a pinch but I think the Bills have bigger plans for him and that worries me. I think he is destined to be the teams starting LG heading into the season. I hope that Doug Marrone, with his extensive OL background, can coach Williams up and have him return to the form that made him so successful at Vanderbilt but Marrone failed to bring out the best in Brown and Legursky last year so it's not a guarantee that he'll be able to do it with Williams this year.
Some things that worry me is that Williams is on his 3rd team after just only 6 years in the league. Another thing that worries me is that he was ranked as the 74th ranked G out of 81 players by Pro Football Focus. Williams was also ranked as the worst player on the St. Louis Rams last year. His rating of -21.8 is bad, really bad. On the 17th ranked St. Louis Rams offense, he was considered the weak link with experts saying 'he's a liability as a lineman, he allows far too much pressure and he's not good enough in run blocking". To put things into perspective, Doug Legursky, who Williams is set to replace, was rated at a -12.5 which, as know from watching last year, is pretty bad.
I know that people can get better and sometimes it's the coaching and sometime it's the scheme and sometimes people just need a change of scenario but my days of being overly optimistic are done. The Bills have been bad for so long and it starts in the front office. They get some good pieces but they fail to put it all together. I don't see how this is going to be a big improvement over what we already have but I hope that I'm proven wrong. I like the signing as depth but not for Williams to be a starter on the OL. I don't think I can drop the G position down my list of needs because I still think the Bills have a need there.
Fun Facts:
- Played in 69 NFL Games. Awesome.
- He participated in an intermission contest with the Chicago Blackhawks during a playoff game back in 2009 where he was to shoot two pucks from center ice into two small slots along the ice, with the circumference of the slots being just bigger than the puck. He was successful on both tries. He claims he never shot a puck before but I don't care, I'll still take him on the Sabres over Ville Leino.
- He is currently the 6th Williams on the Buffalo Bills roster. Can you name the other 5?
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