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IDP Spotlight: DJ Williams (Group 4) (1 Viewer)

Aaron Rudnicki

Keep Walking™
Staff member
2008 IDP Spotlight Series

One of Footballguys best assets is our message board community. The IDP Forum here has grown quickly over the past few years and is probably the best place on the internet to discuss, debate and analyze all things related to IDPs. In what we hope to make an annual tradition, the IDP Spotlight series will be a key part of our preseason effort this year. As many of you know from what has been done with offensive players over the years, we consider the Player Spotlight threads the permanent record for analyzing the fantasy prospects of the player in question. This year, we hope to publish IDP Spotlights for approximately 50-60 players, which should account for most of the key IDP starters for this year and possibly years to come.

Each week we will post a list of players to be discussed. Those threads will remain open for the entire preseason, and should be a central point to discussion expectations for the player in question. Importantly, analysis done in the first week (or possibly longer) of posting will be part of the permanent record in two ways.

1) At the end of the week (or longer when necessary), we will tally the projections into a consensus.

2) We will select a number of pull quotes from forum contributors who make a compelling statement or observation. Both the projections and pull quotes will be part of a published article on the main website.

Thread Topic: DJ Williams, LB, Denver Broncos

Player Page Link: DJ Williams Player Page

Each published article will include:

Detailed viewpoint from a Footballguys staff member
Highlighted member commentary from the message board threads
FBG Projections
Consensus Member ProjectionsThe Rules

In order for this thread to provide maximum value, we ask that you follow a few simple guidelines:

Focus commentary on the player in question, and your expectations for said player
Back up your expectations in whatever manner you deem appropriate; avoid posts that simply say "I hate him" or "He's the best"
To be included in the final synopsis and consensus outlook, we request that you provide projections for the playerProjections should include (at a minimum):

For DLs: Solos, Assists, Sacks, PD
For LBs: Solos, Assists, Sacks, INT, PD
For DBs: Solos, Assists, Sacks, INT, PDNow let's get on with the conversation! We look forward to your contributions and let me offer a personal thanks in anticipation of the great debate and analysis.

 
About all I know is … Bates out Slowik in, DJ bounces out to “Will”. I haven’t paid much attention to DJ and Denver’s LB situation, be nice to know more about Slowik. Per Dave Kreiger/Rocky Mountain News (5/19/08) “The numbers got considerably better after the bye week (9), when power shifted from Jim Bates to Bob Slowik and an eighth defender was allowed in the box

I don’t know what to expect out of DJ this year. Does Slowik use a right/left alignment? Who will play in the middle and how will the play of the “Mike” affect DJ’s numbers? I don’t look for him to put up anything close to the tackle numbers he had last year.

 
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About all I know is … Bates out Slowik in, DJ bounces out to “Will”. I haven’t paid much attention to DJ and Denver’s LB situation, be nice to know more about Slowik. Per Dave Kreiger/Rocky Mountain News (5/19/08) “The numbers got considerably better after the bye week (9), when power shifted from Jim Bates to Bob Slowik and an eighth defender was allowed in the box

I don’t know what to expect out of DJ this year. Does Slowik use a right/left alignment? Who will play in the middle and how will the play of the “Mike” affect DJ’s numbers? I don’t look for him to put up anything close to the tackle numbers he had last year.
2004 - Na'il Diggs 14 Games 69/19/11999 - Jamir Miller 15 Games 93/23/4.5

1997 - Barry Minter 16 Games 65/27/6

These are the last 3 weakside linebackers I could find in a Bob Slowik led defense. Obviously Jamir Miller's season jumps off the page the most. I would also compare Williams more favorably to Miller in talent than Diggs or Minter. This isn't to suggest Williams will mirror those numbers, but the potential is there.

 
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About all I know is … Bates out Slowik in, DJ bounces out to “Will”. I haven’t paid much attention to DJ and Denver’s LB situation, be nice to know more about Slowik. Per Dave Kreiger/Rocky Mountain News (5/19/08) “The numbers got considerably better after the bye week (9), when power shifted from Jim Bates to Bob Slowik and an eighth defender was allowed in the box

I don’t know what to expect out of DJ this year. Does Slowik use a right/left alignment? Who will play in the middle and how will the play of the “Mike” affect DJ’s numbers? I don’t look for him to put up anything close to the tackle numbers he had last year.
2004 - Na'il Diggs 14 Games 69/19/11999 - Jamir Miller 15 Games 93/23/4.5

1997 - Barry Minter 16 Games 65/27/6

These are the last 3 weakside linebackers I could find in a Bob Slowik led defense. Obviously Jamir Miller's season jumps off the page the most. I would also compare Williams more favorably to Miller in talent than Diggs or Minter. This isn't to suggest Williams will mirror those numbers, but the potential is there.
We're they listed right/left or weak/strong?I agree with the Williams more favorable to Miller assesment , maybe his numbers won't be that far off, probably somewhere in-between of Diggs and Miller.

 
About all I know is … Bates out Slowik in, DJ bounces out to “Will”. I haven’t paid much attention to DJ and Denver’s LB situation, be nice to know more about Slowik. Per Dave Kreiger/Rocky Mountain News (5/19/08) “The numbers got considerably better after the bye week (9), when power shifted from Jim Bates to Bob Slowik and an eighth defender was allowed in the box

I don’t know what to expect out of DJ this year. Does Slowik use a right/left alignment? Who will play in the middle and how will the play of the “Mike” affect DJ’s numbers? I don’t look for him to put up anything close to the tackle numbers he had last year.
2004 - Na'il Diggs 14 Games 69/19/11999 - Jamir Miller 15 Games 93/23/4.5

1997 - Barry Minter 16 Games 65/27/6

These are the last 3 weakside linebackers I could find in a Bob Slowik led defense. Obviously Jamir Miller's season jumps off the page the most. I would also compare Williams more favorably to Miller in talent than Diggs or Minter. This isn't to suggest Williams will mirror those numbers, but the potential is there.
We're they listed right/left or weak/strong?I agree with the Williams more favorable to Miller assesment , maybe his numbers won't be that far off, probably somewhere in-between of Diggs and Miller.
They were all listed on the right side.If you were to take an average of the 2 (Miller/Diggs) over 16 games you get 89 Tackles 23 Assists and 3 Sacks. Throw in an INT and I feel good about those as solid projections for Williams.

 
About all I know is … Bates out Slowik in, DJ bounces out to “Will”. I haven’t paid much attention to DJ and Denver’s LB situation, be nice to know more about Slowik. Per Dave Kreiger/Rocky Mountain News (5/19/08) “The numbers got considerably better after the bye week (9), when power shifted from Jim Bates to Bob Slowik and an eighth defender was allowed in the box

I don’t know what to expect out of DJ this year. Does Slowik use a right/left alignment? Who will play in the middle and how will the play of the “Mike” affect DJ’s numbers? I don’t look for him to put up anything close to the tackle numbers he had last year.
2004 - Na'il Diggs 14 Games 69/19/11999 - Jamir Miller 15 Games 93/23/4.5

1997 - Barry Minter 16 Games 65/27/6

These are the last 3 weakside linebackers I could find in a Bob Slowik led defense. Obviously Jamir Miller's season jumps off the page the most. I would also compare Williams more favorably to Miller in talent than Diggs or Minter. This isn't to suggest Williams will mirror those numbers, but the potential is there.
We're they listed right/left or weak/strong?I agree with the Williams more favorable to Miller assesment , maybe his numbers won't be that far off, probably somewhere in-between of Diggs and Miller.
They were all listed on the right side.If you were to take an average of the 2 (Miller/Diggs) over 16 games you get 89 Tackles 23 Assists and 3 Sacks. Throw in an INT and I feel good about those as solid projections for Williams.
those are pretty solid projections. I would bump them up a bit just because I think DJ is more talented. 95-30-5-1-5

 
DJ is a linebacker who likes to attack laterally.

He is/was terrible at taking on lead blockers of the lineman variety at MLB.

A switch to WLB to handle TEs and FBs is a much better fit.

Two players could have an effect on Williams year end results: Dummervil and Koutuvides.

Dummervile getting more play time is a bad thing as he doest eat up blocker and will play in front of Williams. That could get him hammered by guards and tackles more frequently then you would like. Niko on the other hand, is very limited. And that should allow plenty of chnaces for Williams to chase down tackles.

Moving out of the middle hurts, but he should be the best tackle stat compiler for the Broncos.

Tackles: 85

Assist: 28

Sacks: 0

Ints: 1

Pass D's: 9

 
He didn't make that many big plays, but Williams racked up a ton of tackles at the MLB spot last year. He finished with 106 solo tackles and 35 assists, which was nearly double his production from the year before when he was still at SLB and didn't play in the nickel very often.

With Al Wilson and Ian Gold now gone, Williams is clearly the best and most talented LB on the Broncos roster so I expect him to keep playing in the nickel and dime packages. I also think he has the range to chase down plays all over the field, even stealing some from the MLB whether it winds up being Koutivides or Webster. The Broncos pass rush should also be improved thanks to the return of Ebenezer Ekuban and continued improvement from 2nd year pros Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder. That should give Williams a good chance to improve on his career highs in sacks (2) and INTs (1). If he can improve his big play numbers slightly and still wind up with 85 to 90 solo tackles, I think Williams will remain right in the LB2 range for most IDP leagues.

What kind of impact do you think the move back to WLB will have on his production? Is he still a safe starter in most leagues?

 
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For whatever reason, DJ does not garner the respect he deserves. Let's look at the check-down...

1) Is he talented? Check...former 1st-round blue-chip prospect with the ability to play all three downs.

2) Is he productive? Check...when playing non-SLB, he has easily topped 100+ tackles.

3) Does he stay healthy? Check...has never missed a game in 4 NFL seasons.

I have to believe uneducated FF'ers downgrade DJ b/c of his '05 and '06 seasons. I'd have to assume they do not understand the position switches of DJ over the past 4 seasons. DJ has Top-10 talent and I believe he has an outside chance at Top-10 numbers as a WLB this year (ala his '04 rookie season).

80 solos

35 assists

3 sacks

5 PD's

 
With the move to WLB DJ Williams takes quite a hit in the tackle department. He is a very talented player and will be as solid as a LB2 out there. With him being freed up to do a little more freelancing I see his big plays going up this year but it won't be near enough to make him a LB1 as he was last year. He should be a good performer for a long time to come, he's a smart player with great athleticism who is clearly heads and shoulders better than any other LB on the Broncos roster. I wouldn't be shocked to see a move back to the middle and I would be even less shocked to see a move to the strongside. He's a safe option as long as he doesn't get moved to an even less desirable postion.

85 tackles

28 assists

1 sacks

4 FF

2 INT

7 PD

 

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