Defensive Tackle
William Joseph
College: Miami
Year: Senior
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 293
Birthday: September 3, 1979
Strengths: William Joseph not only has first round talent but an enormous upside that has scouts drooling over his potential. Last year at this time, there was talk he might be better than former teammate, Damione Lewis, who was picked 12th overall in the 2000 draft. A season later, the comparison has shifted to another former Hurricane, Waren Saap.
Joseph has a wonderful combination of both size and speed. As a freshman, he played defensive end but coaches moved him inside in 2000, and Joseph actually improved every facet of his game, including his pursuit of the quarterback. Joseph has racked up 16 sacks and 34 quarterback hurries since moving to tackle.
But Joseph is also a quintessential inside presence, strong enough to clog the middle and stuff the run, but quick enough to still make plays up and down the line of scrimmage.
Areas for Concern: While he’s improved his game each and every year, Joseph is still raw and has a tendency to shun technique, raising up from his stance and losing leverage in the trenches. It’s something he can get away with on Saturdays, but the NFL will be a different story.
And as good as he’s been, he does have a tendency to disappear at times; not in big games, but he’ll string together 5 or 6 eye-opening performances, and then he’ll take a week off. Once he becomes more consistent, he’ll be devastating.
How Would He Look in Steel Blue? Quite good, thank you. Joseph is, right now, a top 10 senior prospect, regardless of position. He fires off the ball, disrupts the backfield and makes plays all over the football field.
On the pro level, he can likely play inside or out (though he’ll likely be a tackle), which is the kind of versatility Dom Capers loves his defensive linemen to have. It’s highly likely (hopeful?) that Joseph is at or near the top of the Texans’ draft board at this point in time.
(profile written by Ric Sweeney
)
William Joseph’s 2001 Stats G TCK TFL SKS FF FR 11 59 19 10 4 0
William Joseph 
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>> Tommie Harris
>> Jarrett Johnson
>> William Joseph
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