Giants Country

2023 NFL Draft Profile: LB Dorian Williams

Nick has a look at another linebacker prospect, Dorian Williams out of Tulane.

Nick Falato

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Dorian Williams, LB

Height: 6-foot
Weight: 228 lbs.
Class: Senior
School: Tulane
Arm length: 32 ¾”
Wingspan: 80 ½”
Hand size: 10 ¼”

A former three-star recruit from Indian Land High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Williams was the 47th South Carolina recruit and the 176th outside linebacker prospect in the 2019 recruiting cycle, according to 247Sports.

Notables

Dorian Williams had a productive senior season with the Green Wave, totaling 132 tackles, 8.5 for a loss, 54 STOPs, and pairs of interceptions and forced fumbles. Williams was also effectively used on the blitz and had 22 pressures and five sacks. He finished his career at Tulane with 316 tackles, 27 for a loss, 9.5 sacks, 44 pressures, eight passes defended, and pairs of interceptions and forced fumbles.

Williams led the AAC in solo tackles in 2022 & 2020, and he led the conference with 64 solo tackles in 2020 and an impressive 15.5 tackles for a loss that season. Williams attended the 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

Strengths

  • Well put together player with thick extremities - looks the part
  • A tall 6-foot
  • Long solid overall athlete with good linear speed
  • Provides good overall burst and explosiveness downhill or in pursuit
  • Closes width quickly with good acceleration - attacks low
  • Does a solid overall job reading and reacting to pulling OL
  • Solid overall eye discipline in the tackle box against the run
  • Good lateral agility to scrape over trash, stay square, and fill
  • Solid overall tackler with a long tackle radius (10.7% collegiate missed tackle rate)
  • When his hips are flipped early, he can stride and cover good ground to carry TEs up the seam - Memphis Q2 11:05 1st & 10 INC
  • Solid ball skills within striking range - will challenge receivers through the catch
  • He covers ground in his zone drops - solid movement in backpedal
  • He is a solid blitzer who disguises his pressure well
  • Blitzed from a variety of alignments - was most successful blitzing within the tackle box, stacked behind an IDL
  • Strong when moving forward - good play strength when bull-rushing
  • Coaching staffs may attempt to use him on the EDGE in a hybrid manner
  • Embarrassed a few WRs attempting to block him in space
  • Not afraid to get his nose dirty - a tough competitor
  • Flies around the field with a ton of hustle
  • Special teams experience

Weaknesses

  • Long strider who isn’t the quickest changing direction when hips need to open
  • Appeared to be a bit stiff in the lower half - a bit high-hipped
  • Trigger downhill is adequate and not always instantaneous
  • Short-area-quickness in a phone booth leaves some to be desired
  • Shifty players can make him miss in a phone booth
  • Stack and shed has to improve
  • Reads pullers well but struggles to quickly discard blocks
  • Struggles to shed blocks when blockers get into his chest
    • Bearcats Q2 4:22, 3rd & 3 18 yd run
    • Houston OT 15:00, 1st & 10 5 yd run
    • Southern Miss Q4 4:31, 3rd & 11 11yd run
  • Questions about his man coverage ability are fair
  • Adequate awareness in zone coverage - not consistently aware of routes behind him
  • Needs to improve his reaction to screen passes

Summary

Dorian Williams is fast, big, and has upside as a pass-rusher. He had a productive senior season as one of the leaders of an underrated Tulane defense. There’s a reason why Tulane went 12-2 with an impressive Cotton Bowl victory over USC, and players like Williams contribute to that reason. Williams is not a polished linebacker, nor is he an incredible athlete at the position. However, Williams was well-rounded, assignment-sound, and a reliable overall tackler.

I appreciate Williams ability to read & react to run concepts in the box, specifically power/gap plays, but his inability to consistently shed climbing IOL was an issue that will plague him at the next level. He needs to react quicker to leverage his length or develop ways to avoid the contact but not compromise his position; he’s a bit stiff in his lower half, which may hinder the latter proposition.

Williams is adequate as a spot-drop zone defender. Tulane ran a lot of different coverage concepts; he was adequate in matching routes underneath him but wasn’t always aware of route concepts and what lurked behind him. He’s not the most natural at flipping his hips instantaneously, which could be an issue in the NFL against shiftier RBs. He has the necessary linear speed, but the quick change of direction with opening and closing of the hips leaves some to be desired.

Overall, Williams is a developmental special teams asset with some upside as a two-down starter. I don’t necessarily think he’s limited to one type of scheme, albeit he may best fit in as a WILL initially rather than a MIKE or SAM. I’m interested to see how he tests and if he can improve his overall fluidity in space, specifically when he's not square to the line of scrimmage. 

His ability to blitz could be something that helps him earn snaps early on passing downs. His competitive nature will draw attention, and he should be an early-impact player on special team with starter upside eventually. Williams has a high ceiling, but there’s some necessary development that must take place.

GRADE: 5.9 

Draft grade scale
Nick Falato
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Nick Falato
NICK FALATO

Nick Falato is co-host of the Big Blue Banter podcast. In addition to Giants Country, his work has appeared on SB Nation.

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