Nick Williams combine work out...

[Dee Dub]

[URL]http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/0ap2000000152003/2013-Combine-workout-Nick-Williams[/URL]

He actually ran faster at his pro day...4.86.

[flippy]

This guy is a beast. Good Lord.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Jeez. No fat on that load. Although Ta'amu isn't fat at 350 and is apparently a bum.

[Chadman]

After watching Coach Mitchell's conference about Williams- does anyone else think Mitchell's got a chip on his shoulder with the press?

Chadman had mentioned Williams a couple of times in his draft read- passed EVERY criteria for the Steelers DL. Not surprised by is pick. Seems a good guy in interviews too.

[phillyesq]

Quite an athlete, and the prototypical size the Steelers like in a DE. He could end up on the practice squad for a year, but certainly an interesting developmental prospect. Very raw, but lots of potential to work with.

[flippy]

After watching Coach Mitchell's conference about Williams- does anyone else think Mitchell's got a chip on his shoulder with the press?

Chadman had mentioned Williams a couple of times in his draft read- passed EVERY criteria for the Steelers DL. Not surprised by is pick. Seems a good guy in interviews too.

I've heard Mitchell's a super nice guy. Probably a combo of being worn out after the draft and not being a guy that has to talk to the media that much.

I think we're better off getting guys with potential late in the draft for the 3-4 DE position vs early. It just seems like the hardest position to learn. And the highly rated guys are more than likely gonna already have a style of play that's hard to break. And Mitchell seems to have to tear these guys down and build them back up.

Good call on your part finding this kid. I'd never heard of Samford before.

When they mentioned he was a great basketball player, I started wondering if this DE position doesn't work out, could we try him at TE?

[hawaiiansteel]

Steelers select DE Nicholas Williams in 7th round

NICHOLAS WILLIAMS

Defensive End
Samford University Bulldogs
6-4 - 309
Birmingham, Alabama
Minor High School
7th Round – 223rd Overall

2012 SEASON
Played in all 11 games . . . recorded 31 tackles (15 solo), eight tackles for loss, six sacks, four quarterback hurries, three pass breakups and blocked one kick . . . recorded a season-high six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks vs. Wofford on 11/3/12 . . . registered at least one sack in three consecutive games.

2011 SEASON
Started all 11 games on the defensive line . . . tallied 23 tackles, including 17 solo stops . . . had three tackles for a loss . . . had four tackles against Georgia Southern . . . tallied four tackles against Western Carolina . . . had three tackles at The Citadel.

2010 SEASON
Saw action in all 11 games . . . had nine tackles, including four solo stops . . . forced one fumble . . . had four tackles, including one solo stop, against Newberry College . . . forced a fumble at Chattanooga.

2009 SEASON
Saw action in seven games . . . tallied three tackles, all solo stops . . . had one tackle against Jacksonville . . . produced two tackles against Miles College.

2008 SEASON
Redshirted . . . participated on Samford’s scout team.

HIGH SCHOOL
Totaled 25 tackles as a defensive lineman . . . also played offensive lineman, registering two pancake blocks . . . had two inter*ceptions, scoring one touchdown . . . *recorded one fumble recovery and knocked down two passes.

PERSONAL
Born Feb. 21, 1990 . . . son of Frederick and Natalie Williams . . . majoring in public administration.

Nicholas Williams Conference Call Transcript

NICHOLAS WILLIAMS
Defensive End – Samford University Bulldogs
7th Round – 223rd Overall

Did you add 75 pounds in college?
I came into college about 240 pounds, and since then the heaviest I’ve weighed is about 320 pounds. And now I’m back to 310 pounds.

Did you only play one year of high school football?
I just played my sophomore year. I always played pee-wee league ball, and when I got to high school I was 6’2”. Believe it or not, I was 185 pounds. I got real skinny as a young kid, so I said, “I guess I’m a basketball player.” I came out for the team my sophomore year, and I was really good at it.

Have you had your eye on the Steelers?
It’s a sigh of relief that they even picked me. Coach John Mitchell came up to Birmingham, Ala., and took me out. He talked to me, and we had a great conversation. I’m just proud to be a Steeler now.

Will you continue to put on weight?
I can put on as much weight as I have to. I guess I have that type of body and that type of frame.

Defensive Line/Assistant Head Coach John Mitchell RE 7th Round Pick Nicholas Williams

NICHOLAS WILLIAMS
Defensive End – Samford University Bulldogs
7th Round – 223rd Overall

Coach Mitchell: Nicholas Williams is a young man from Birmingham, Alabama. He went to Samford University right there. Samford is a little liberal arts college right there in Birmingham. This guy was a heck of a basketball player coming out of high school. He only played one year of football. Pat Sullivan, the ex-Heisman trophy winner, is the head football coach there. Pat Sullivan knew his father, and they asked him to go look at his son. As a basketball player, they looked at him. He went to Samford because the guy had good size coming out of high school, and they signed him. He is a young guy. He is not going to come in here and replace anybody. He is probably not going to play. He is a project. But you can’t get guys that are 6’4” 320 pounds that can run and look like a guy that is 310 pounds. I like this guy. He didn’t dominate right there in Samford. He only started two years there, but I think his football is ahead of him rather than behind him.

Where will he play?
He is going to be a defensive end.

Have you heard of him before?
Yes, Pat Sullivan had talked to me about this kid for about the last year. I am very close with Pat. He is a guy that we have had our eye on for a good while.

Is it almost easier since he is so raw to teach him your three-four without having to unlearn other things?
I don’t care what scheme he played in college. When he comes here he is going to do it the Steelers way. He is going to do it the way we want so it doesn’t make any difference to me what he did in college. No matter if he was a first round draft choice, they are going to do it our way.

Did you say he is 320 pounds?
He’s 320 pounds. When you look at him you are going to think he is about 310. When I was there back in early March he was 317 and he has been as high as 320. He carries his weight very well. This guy was a heck of a basketball player coming out of high school.

He just played one year of football?
One year in high school. He was a starter at Samford for two years. If you watch him on tape you won’t get very excited about him. But if you look at him and you look at the potential that he has, he reminds me of when we signed Steve McLendon here. He’s a guy that a lot of you guys didn’t think would ever play here. He stayed here in this program and he did it our way. He is going to have a chance to be a good football player.

He’s 6’4”, 320 pounds?
Yes. He’s probably 317. He’s lost a little weight, but I would say he’s 317.

Will Cameron Heyward have an opportunity to compete with Ziggy Hood?
We’re going to play him. He’s going to have an opportunity to play on both sides. If you go back and look, he did. He played on both sides last year. So we’re going to play him on the left side some, yes.

Are you happy with what you have at nose tackle?
Yes, I’m very happy. I’m very happy. I remember sitting here last year. You guys had a coronation for Alameda Ta’amu. I told you if you look we had a guy who wore number 90 who was going to have a chance to play. I remember that. So I’m very happy with him.

How much did he play?
He played 150 plays. You have Casey Hampton who is a good football player so yes.

Does Nicholas Williams know that he won’t play this year?
Yes, he knows that. This guy wants to come somewhere where he will have the opportunity to play down the road. He knows that he only played one year of high school football and Samford is a small university where he started two years. He’s excited about having the chance to play pro football in an organization like the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Was Williams at the combine?
Yes. He was at the combine.

Is he the kind of guy who you wanted to take in the seventh round?
What you have to look at as a coach is I don’t know how many guys you’re going to get next year in the seventh round that are going to be 6’4”, 320 that can run. You go back, we took Brett Keisel in the seventh round. Brett Keisel was not 320. Here’s a guy that can run. He came here, he played on the special team and when he got a chance to play, he picked up our scheme, did well, the rest is history. I look at this guy, he knows he’s not going to play. He’s a guy that I like. I think with some coaching, being around other good football players, he’s smart enough. Samford is a smart school academically, he’s already graduated. I think this guy has tremendous upside. I’m excited about him.

[URL]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Steelers-select-DE-Nicholas-Williams-in-7th-round/4ff1f59f-b264-4f26-973f-13a48d4a4f65[/URL]

[Oviedo]

Interesting with Williams we also added 5 more Defensive Linemen as UDFA. Appears the team is stocking up on DL, wonder why they would do that

[phillyesq]

Interesting with Williams we also added 5 more Defensive Linemen as UDFA. Appears the team is stocking up on DL, wonder why they would do that

Must be looking to replace Ziggy Hood.

[Steel Life]

No need to if they had simply drafted one in the 5th round rather than take a back-up QB...

[SteelSpain]

Must be looking to replace Ziggy Hood.

Kiesel isnīt going to play forever too.

[hawaiiansteel]

223. Nick Williams, DE/DT, Samford: A- Grade

I thought Nick Williams would go a round or two earlier, so it's no surprise that Pittsburgh landed another value selection. There are some disappointing defensive ends on Pittsburgh's roster, so it wouldn't surprise me if Williams eventually was considered to be a starter.

[URL]http://walterfootball.com/offseason2013pit.php[/URL]

[hawaiiansteel]

Coaches hope tip helps Steelers coaches get friends' help

May 4, 2013
By Ray Fittipaldo / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Relationships between high school and college coaches are the lifeblood of recruiting. When it comes time for college players to move into the NFL, relationships between college and NFL coaches can be just as important.

One such relationship is why the Steelers are taking a calculated gamble on Nick Williams, a raw, 6-foot-4, 309-pound defensive lineman from Division I-AA Samford University. The Steelers selected Williams, who only played one year of high school football, with their final pick in the seventh round of the draft last week.

Steelers defensive line coach John Mitchell has known Samford coach Pat Sullivan for 40 years, dating to their college playing days when Mitchell was at Alabama and Sullivan, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, played for Auburn.

Sullivan also is good friends with Steelers tight end coach James Daniel, who coached with Sullivan at Auburn in the late 1980s.

"I was watching the draft with my wife from the fifth round on, and we were hoping the Steelers would get him," Sullivan said in a telephone interview. "I consider J.D. one of my best friends in life and I'm very fond of Mitch. As soon as the Steelers took Nick, I got on the phone with J.D., and he said Mitch was real high on Nick. Hopefully, the relationship with will work out for both sides."

Williams played football as an elementary and middle school student in Birmingham, Ala., but he gave it up upon entering high school to concentrate on basketball.

"When I got to high school I had a growth spurt and got real skinny," Williams said Friday afternoon after his first practice at the Steelers rookie camp this weekend. "I was 6-2, 185. I looked like a basketball player, so I went out for basketball, did really good at it. Then 12th grade came around, I said, 'Hey I loved to play football when I was a kid. I'm going to play again.' "

Williams took up football as a senior, but he was not a highly sought recruit. In fact, Williams only got recruited to Samford because his father, Frederick, knew Sullivan through State Farm Insurance, where they both worked in the 1980s when Sullivan was out of coaching.

"He wasn't getting recruited, but he was a big guy with a great frame," Sullivan said.

It took a while for Williams to learn how to play college football. He did not start until his junior season, but, as a senior, he was among the top players in Division I-AA, earning all-Southern Conference honors. Based on his senior season, Williams was invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

"Last season, he started to blossom," Sullivan said. "Was he a complete player? No. He was still learning. But you could see flashes of brilliance. I think that's what Mitch and the Steelers saw, too."

The Steelers are looking to turn Williams into a defensive end, a position he never has played. Mitchell has a history of being able to develop players drafted in lower rounds or signed as undrafted free agents.

Two of them -- Brett Keisel and Steve McLendon -- likely will be starters for the Steelers in the fall. Keisel was picked in the seventh round in 2002 and McLendon was an undrafted free agent in 2009.

"If you watch him on tape, you won't get very excited about him," Mitchell said of Williams. "But, if you look at him and you look at the potential that he has, he reminds me of when we signed Steve McLendon.

"What you have to look at as a coach is I don't know how many guys you're going to get next year in the seventh round that are going to be 6-4, 320 that can run. You go back, we took Brett Keisel in the seventh round. Brett Keisel was not 320. Here's a guy that can run. He came here. He played on the special teams and, when he got a chance to play, he picked up our scheme, did well, the rest is history.

"I look at this guy, he knows he's not going to play. He's a guy that I like. I think with some coaching, being around other good football players, he's smart enough. I think this guy has tremendous upside. I'm excited about him."

Keisel was inactive the first nine games of his rookie season and contributed only on special teams late that season. He did not start until 2006, but has since become a dependable player and made the Pro Bowl in 2010. McLendon did not make the 53-man roster as a rookie and spent part of the season on the practice squad. He spent the past three seasons as a reserve and spot starter.

"Coach Mitchell was talking about all those guys how they learned the system, learned what to do," Williams said. "When they started off, they weren't Pro Bowlers. But he developed them, and I think he can do the same with me."

[URL]http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/coaches-hope-tip-helps-steelers-coaches-get-friends-help-686259/#ixzz2SMAgG2Yt[/URL]

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Moving to the 4-3.

[hawaiiansteel]

Seventh round pick Nick Williams playing defensive end in OTAs

By Neal Coolong on May 29 2013



While it wasn't a huge question over which position he'll play, Williams will reach Preseason Cult Status in August, and we're hanging now on his every bit of news.

A quick and easy bet for Preseason Hero, Steelers seventh round pick Nick Williams hasn't generated this much optimism for a player selected in the 200s since Baron Batch in 2010.

No, that isn't to say there's been a lot of time between those drafts. Steelers fans love late-round picks who generate positive praise.

We're drinking the Nick Williams Kool-Aid.

Williams said in an interview with Steelers 'n Stuff writer Brandon Sweeney he's been playing defensive end so far in OTAs.

Steel City Insider publisher Jim Wexell recently noted the power Williams displayed as defensive line coach John Mitchell worked him out during the first session last week.

Wexell would likely poke fun at the fact fans will get excited over that. But they will. And we gladly pay $7.95 a month to read it.

The fact Williams is generating this kind of buzz is more a testament to The Project - the Steelers player's kind of Steelers player. He came from "nothing," and we'll root for him harder than anyone else.

For now, he's playing defensive end, and he's one of the main reasons I'll even watch the preseason.

Williams, and Reggie Dunn, of course.

[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/steelers-otas-2013/2013/5/29/4377814/steelers-nick-williams-profile-scouting-position-depth-chart[/URL]