In the run-up to NFL training camps, ESPN is ranking the best position players in the league. Each day, they pick a position and list a top ten, along with five honorable mentions, and then a collection of “others receiving votes.” The criteria is best in the league – right now. They are not looking at careers, nor are they projecting into the future.
The first position they ranked was running back. Saquon Barkley topped the list. Derrick Henry was second. Not much controversy there. The Seattle Seahawks’ Kenneth Walker was in the last group to be recognized – “others receiving votes.”
That would place him somewhere in the middle of the pack amongst the league’s starting running backs. Based on his injury-plagued 2024, that seems about right.
But on Day 2, the good folks at the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network ranked defensive tackles. And here, we have a problem.
Should Seahawks' Leonard Williams have been ranked higher on the ESPN list?
Leonard Williams was ranked sixth on the ESPN list. That’s not shabby by any means. I would love to be sixth – or sixtieth-best – at pretty much anything. Still, you can easily make the case that the Big Cat was undervalued.
I have absolutely no problems with who ESPN chose in the first two spots – the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence and the Chiefs’ Chris Jones. Now that Aaron Donald has retired, those are the exact two players I would have picked.
But I could argue that Williams was as good, if not better than Philly’s Jalen Carter, who placed third. Williams was a far more consistent player than Carter in 2024. He was way out in front of the Eagle star in both sacks and tackles. That suggests he was very good against both the pass and the run. Anyone who watched Williams play all season knows that to be the case.
Carter is a more mercurial player. He uses his extraordinary length to harass passers. His six pass defenses are extraordinary for an interior lineman. And his 20 tackles-for-loss reveal a player who is a constant threat to blow up plays behind the line.
However, Williams was no slouch in those particular categories either. And I doubt I need to remind you that he was fully capable of making game-changing plays from the defensive line. Aaron Rodgers learned that lesson last year.
OK – let’s say you still prefer Carter’s big play ability over Williams’ steadier production. There is no way Leonard Williams should be ranked lower than fourth. The two tackles ranked at four and five – Tennessee’s Jeffery Simmons and the Jets’ Quinnen Williams – are living off of past reputations right now. Neither was even close to Leonard Williams in 2024.
The Big Cat had the same number of sacks as Simmons and Q. Williams combined last year. His QB hits number was better than their combined total.
But, you say, interior defenders are not valued for their pass rush as much as for their run-stopping. Fine. Leonard had as many solo tackles as Quinnen had combined tackles last year. When considering combined tackles, he dwarfed Quinnen.
Simmons indeed had more total tackles than Leonard, but the Seahawks’ star outdid the Titan when it comes to tackles-for-loss. Simmons is still a beast against the run, but when you consider how Leonard Williams also impacts the passing game, he should get the nod.
And Leonard is clearly better than Quinnen Williams at this point. Quinnen, who was spectacular in his first couple of years, took a step backward last year.
You could make the argument that Leonard Williams doesn’t play the same position as Simmons or Quinnen Williams. They are pure 3-technique tackles, lining up between the opposing guard and tackle.
In Mike Macdonald’s scheme, Leonard Williams is just as likely to line up in a 5-technique role – outside the tackle – as at the three. But all that says to me is that he is more versatile than those other players and Macdonald takes full advantage of that versatility.
Williams got better and better as the season went on and he grew more comfortable in Macdonald’s defense. During the first nine games, he maintained a Pro Football Focus (subscription required) grade of 66. That’s a decent grade. Nothing spectacular.
Over his final seven games, he raised that grade to 78. For the season, his overall grade, which is calculated differently from a per-game grade, was an exceptional 87.1, well ahead of Simmons, Carter, and Quinnen Williams.
Leonard Williams didn’t even play alongside a dominant nose tackle, which would have made his life easier. Jarran Reed, Johnathan Hankins, and Byron Murphy II all took turns on the inside but none are ideal 1-techniques. He would probably be even more dominant with a true nose tackle occupying linemen in the middle.
Leonard Williams doesn’t need validation from ESPN. Or from me, for that matter. He is clearly one of the best defensive tackles in the league. Being ranked sixth is an honor. But being ranked third would be more appropriate.