Offensive Tackle
Brett Williams
College: Flordia State
Year: Senior
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 317
Birthday: May 2, 1980
Strengths: Brett Williams has been there, done that. For the fifth-year senior who’s been starting for the Seminoles since his redshirt freshman season, Williams has both been around the block and learned how to throw a good one, too. The mature leader of a Florida State line returning all five starters in 2002, Williams has both the smarts and the physicality to dominate weaker opponents.
Williams also has very good technique, a sign of maturity that helped him run the tables in 2001 without giving up a single sack, even with a frosh quarterback under center. Williams, known to excel in his pass blocking, also recorded 48 pancakes last year to lead his team despite missing two games. Head coach Bobby Bowden gives him nothing but love and thinks Williams is the best offensive lineman to ever play at Florida State. His peers think so too. They awarded him the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top offensive lineman in 2001.
Areas for Concern: While Williams is consistent and knowledgeable, he’s not near the same class as some of the premier tackles taken in previous drafts. He has an odd stance that seems to limit his range. Run blocking has also been troublesome for Williams and his linemates. There’s some concern that Williams is an overrated prospect, what with the annual hype the Florida State program receives. Williams has been around for so long as a starter that some people may just be comfortable with a familiar name.
Williams has not been injury-free. He suffered an ankle sprain in the 2000 preseason and missed some games, then a bad right knee sprain last November caused him to miss another two. Though he played in the bowl game, he still wasn’t completely healed. Word from spring drills was that his knee was slowing him down, but he should be healed in time for the season.
And then there’s last year’s game against Julius Peppers and North Carolina. Williams was part of an overconfident squad that was on the wrong side of a 41-9 Tar Heel drubbing. Though Peppers didn’t register a sack over Williams, it was the game that vaulted Peppers to the top of most scouts’ draft boards. Williams’ holding penalty on Peppers not only negated an 85-yard TD pass to Javon Walker, one that would have possibly tied the game at 17 with a successful two-point conversion, but it killed any momentum the Seminoles were building.
How Would He Look in Steel Blue? With concern about the long-term recovery of Tony Boselli, the Texans will keep an eye on the progress of big tackles like Williams. The upshot here is that he’s versatile enough to play either left or right tackle, and he was recruited out of high school as a guard, too.
Williams has the potential to be the first lineman taken in 2003 draft. He is a hard worker who has spent a lot of time improving his speed and strength. It doesn’t hurt that Williams has also tasted success when, in 1999, the Seminoles won a national championship. The Texans want winners like Williams in their locker room.
(profile written by Keith Weiland
)
Brett Williams 
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