Leonard Williams may have already begun working on his career after football. If you have watched TV lately, chances are you have seen a Visa commercial starring the Jets defensive lineman. The commercial features Williams speaking to his daughter (played by an actress) while wearing a spacesuit. It is a departure for the soft-spoken Williams, whose profile appears to be on the rise. He filmed the spot on a day off during training camp. So, does Williams have plans on becoming an actor? “No, no,” Williams said with a laugh Tuesday. “Whatever works out, man.” What is working out for Williams at the moment is this football thing. The 24-year-old has a long way to go before having to worry about what to do in retirement. In Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins, Williams was a force. Pro Football Focus graded him as the seventh-best interior defensive lineman this week out of the 112 it graded. PFF credited him with three run stops (meaning a player was held to no gain or a loss), and he was the fourth-best lineman against the run Williams missed out on half of a sack when his takedown of Ryan Tannehill was nullified by a holding penalty on Morris Claiborne. “We like everything he’s doing,” coach Todd Bowles said. “He’s active. He’s moving around. He’s strong. I’ve got no complaints with Leonard.” The Jets will be counting on Williams again Thursday night against the Browns. Cleveland is averaging 135 yards rushing per game, the fifth-best rushing attack in the NFL. The Browns have Carlos Hyde leading the way, and quarterback Tyrod Taylor is the team’s second-leading rusher. Williams faced Taylor plenty of times when Taylor was with the Bills. He knows what kind of threat he can be. “Tyrod Taylor is a dual-threat quarterback,” Williams said. “It’s hard to prepare against a dual-threat quarterback. You’ve got to really collapse the pocket and try your hardest to make him one-dimensional, just a passing quarterback instead of trying to beat you with both.” Besides what he can do on the field, Williams has become a more vocal leader off of it. He recently spoke up at a players-only meeting, and on Monday he broke down the team huddle before practice, delivering a message to his teammates on this short week. After the game on Sunday, Williams spoke to the media and set a tone after Sunday’s 20-12 loss to Miami. “Overall, I’m not disappointed in my team,” Williams said Sunday. “Guys coming in here are hanging their heads high still. Nobody’s walking around moping and acting like this is the end of the world. We know this is a long road ahead of us and we’re going to see them again later on down the road. Guys are ready to get after the next one.” Some people focus on Williams’ sack production as his measure as a player. He had only two last year, but teammates and coaches say that his contributions go way beyond sacks. “There’s certain things that will never be accounted for on the stat sheet,” linebacker Brandon Copeland said. “We might look back at someone’s stats years from now and say, ‘Oh, he only did this or he only had this.’ “Even Khalil Mack, I looked at his stats from last year and I think he only had 10 sacks, but I’m sure he missed about 20 of those and he probably pressured or caused 10 more or 15 more for his team. The inexperienced viewer might not take into account the big effect that a guy like Leonard Williams has on our game and our defensive scheme in general.” The Jets still love having Williams starring in their defense. It will be a while before he can go to commercials full-time.
He didn't write the.article as far as I could tell. He should have posted the link along with it, but that was Leonard Williams' words, not his. When I read that line I thought what, they all committed suicide? Got hung Wild West Style? War crimes?
That's very nice. I still wouldn't break the bank for a player who's relying on the ol' stats don't tell the whole picture argument to get paid on his next contract. Superstars make big plays, superstars take over games, superstars dominate, superstars are in the running for defensive player of the year etc. every year. If all he does is the dirty work then he's a ROLE PLAYER NOT a star. And I don't give a rat's behind about his acting.
Joe beningon said it best, he’s overrated.. Never wrecked a game..Yeah he may take up 2 lineman...but did we need to use the 6th pick in the draft for that?
Tonight I specifically zeroed in on him He was NOT double teamed much if at all He did very little from what I saw
He is a solid player. I would not give him a big contract. To be real, Henry Anderson is more disruptive then "leo" is. He is a total overrated player but not a bad one and should not get a contract more then what a average player at his position gets.