Kevin Williams—Will He Ever Get His Due?

By John Turney 

Somewhere former Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams has to be thinking, "Whom must I run over to get in a Hall-of-Fame discussion?" Because, up to this point, running over guards, running backs and quarterbacks hasn't been enough.

That's what Williams did for 13 NFL seasons, yet it has yet to get him Canton's attention.

Williams is what those in and around pro football would call "a load," and it was the ultimate compliment from one lineman to another -- as in, "John Hannah was a load" or "Joe Greene was a load."

And that's exactly what Williams was.

An anchor in the interior of the Minnesota Vikings defensive line, the 6-foot-5, 300-pound Williams was part of a unit that allowed the third-fewest rushing yards while he was with Minnesota -- behind only the Steelers and Ravens. Plus, the Vikings' defensive line was sixth-best in sacks, proof that it wasn't a one-trick pony.

When the "Williams Wall" (the nickname given to Kevin and his teammate, defensive tackle Pat Williams, both big men, even by NFL Standards) was at its peak, no one ran on Minnesota. 

No one.

From 2006-09 -- a span of 64 games -- the Vikings' defense allowed 74.9 yards rushing per game, over seven yards better than the next-best team and 40 yards better than the league average. Its 3.3 yards per carry was tied for No. 1, too -- and, that at a time when the league average was 4.2 yards a pop.

In 2006 Williams was part of a run defense that allowed fewer than 1,000 yards rushing and an average of 61.6 yards per game. Only the 2000 Ravens have done better in modern NFL history. That same year the Vikings also allowed 2.83 yards per opponent attempt -- the third-best ever. 

And by "ever," it includes the Doomsday Defenses, the Purple People Eaters, the Steel Curtain, the Fearsome Foursome, the 1985 Bears. All of them. The Vikings led the NFL in fewest yards rushing three consecutive years, the only time that's happened since the 1970 merger, and Kevin Williams was a huge reason why.

And that may be the rub.

Defenders who were great vs. the run in a primarily passing era sometimes are overlooked by the Hall-of-Fame's board of selectors. Defensive linemen who get the sacks seem to get more notice. At this point, it's just the rules of the game.  Except there's a catch here: Kevin Williams was a standout pass rusher, too.

When Hall-of-Fame defensive tackle Merlin Olsen talked about defensive-line play, he emphasized the importance of interior pass pressure, saying, "No matter how good the outside rush is, if the quarterback can step up and throw, the rush fails. You have to have someone who can crack that pocket from the middle. That was my job."

That was Kevin Williams' job, too.

From 2004 to the end of his career, he led all NFL defensive tackles in sacks with 52-1/2. If you count his rookie season (2003) when he had 10-1/2, that number rises to 63. The Vikings played a 3-4 alignment that season, and he was the left end in base defense. But in probable passing situations, he moved to defensive tackle -- with a designated pass rusher, Lance Johnston playing the edge and Williams cracking the pocket.

According to the Vikings' media guides, Williams led all defensive tackles in sacks in 2004 and 2008 and tied for the lead in 2009. More important, however, was his pressure on opposing passers. In 2008, for example, he tied for the team lead in that category with ... Hall-of-Fame finalist Jared Allen, one of the NFL's best-ever pass rushers.

It gets better.

According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), an analytics site that began tracking pressures in 2006, Williams that season led the NFL in total pressures among interior defensive linemen. For several years, PFF ranked Williams as a consistent performer in PFF's metrics, ranking highly in hurries and hits. 

For his size, Williams was an extraordinary athlete. He could run, and he could leap -- part of the reason the Vikings chose him in the first round of the 2003 NFL draft. But they almost lost the Oklahoma State All-American when they failed to turn in their card within the required time, allowing a couple of teams to jump ahead of them.

Williams' athletic ability was evident in his pass rush, as he forced his way through the middle of opposing lines, saw the quarterback about to throw, and got a hand on the pass. In his career, he deflected 73 passes in his career - more than any interior defensive lineman and more than most defensive ends -- and in 2007 he returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

Now, let's make something clear: No one will suggest that he was a pass rusher on the level of, say, Aaron Donald or  J.J. Watt, who was a defensive end in a 3-4 setup but a defensive tackle in nickel defenses (and, occasionally, an edge rusher).

Those two were special players. 

But the Vikings' middle man could get after a quarterback and create an environment for a teammate like Allen to average 14-1/2 sacks a season by cracking the pocket -- a.k.a., the forward wall of offensive linemen. Mixing metaphors, you could say Williams was both a wall and a wrecking ball.

"This guy's the real deal," said former Pro Bowl guard Mike Wahle. "Explosive, strong, good with his hands, plays every play, very shifty. Uses leverage very well. He's probably the best we've played."

Former Green Bay offensive line coach Karl Dunbar described Williams as the type of player who could "take over a game." So he had the Packers start blocking him differently. In addition to double teams, they had running backs chip him "to try and take him out," as Dunbar said.

Yet Williams persevered. 

Five times he was a consensus All-Pro -- including five times on the Associated Press All-Pro -- and, to appreciate that figure, look at defensive tackles who never were AP All Pros a total of five times. It's a long list, including Hall-of-Famers Warren Sapp, Joe Greene, Alex Karras and Cortez Kennedy, to name just four.

Or how about a list of those who were AP All-Pro MORE than Williams? It's a short one -- Aaron Donald, Bob Lilly and Randy White. (Note: Leo Nomellini was a first-team All-Pro six times, but a couple happened when he was an offensive tackle).

Impressive? You bet. Yet Williams has never been a Hall-of-Fame semifinalist, and that's hard to explain.

Maybe he was overshadowed by the presence of Allen, an elite edge rusher who's been a five-time Hall finalist and had 22 sacks in one season. Or maybe it's because of a Brett Favre interception. If the then-Vikings' quarterback hadn't thrown one late in the  2009 NFC championship game, it might've been Minnesota ... not New Orleans ... that went to Super Bowl XLIV and won.

Maybe then the Williams narrative would be different.

Or, maybe if the Seahawks had won Super Bowl XLIX against the Patriots, it would have helped Williams' case. He'd signed with the Seahawks that year, and let's be honest: Rings help a Hall-of-Fame candidate's case ... and Williams never won one. Additionally, most of the years he was with the Vikings, they weren't winners. They were just under .500 in the 11 years he was there and won nine or more time only five times.

Or, maybe it's because he tested positive for an agent sometimes used to mask steroid use. If so, that wouldn't be fair because he wasn't the only player banned for positive tests; there are Hall-of-Fame inductees who tested positive, too.

Or maybe it's just this simple: There's no room for a five-time All-Pro from one of the great run-stopping defenses in history, someone who was an accomplished pass rusher and applied pressure but wasn't a classic three-technique-type -- i.e., someone who just rushed the passer and played the run as an afterthought.

Maybe being a complete player is a demerit these days. However, Williams knew the hazards of being known as a defensive lineman who could rush the passer but was more of a supreme run stuffer.

"The defensive-tackle position," he once said, "nobody really watches it. All they know is how many sacks you have or whatever. You can have 15 sacks, and people think you are killing it. A lot of time that (playing the run) gets overshadowed as to how good and how well players play."

Regardless, Williams deserves to be in a Hall-of-Fame discussion as a finalist so that his case can be debated, with the positives and a couple of perceived negatives dissected. And, hopefully, that happens soon. 

The top of the Williams Wall deserves nothing less.