Don’t be surprised if LA Rams Jonah Williams gets 1st NFL sack soon

The LA Rams defense is loaded with young talent.  So any effort to highlight the promising performances from those young players may not get around to everyone for many weeks. But the Rams have some players worth talking about right now. And defensive end Jonah Williams is one such player.

This young man has gotten just 72 defensive snaps, and 29 special team snaps. But he is making the best of his limited role. He’s already gotten four tackles, and his share of rotating in on the defense is increasing. So he’s getting playing time. He’s making tackles. How long before he gets to an NFL quarterback and records his first NFL sack?

It could be sooner than you think.

He raised some eyebrows in the LA Rams preseason games, where he put up 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks over the course of rotating in for three games.  So far, it appears that he’s picked right up where he’s left off.  While 72 defensive snaps over six games are nothing to write home about, his Pro Football Focus grade for 2021 of 73.6 in light usage is very promising.

Williams is one of the undrafted defensive linemen that swarmed the 2020 practice squad, and who is showing solid potential as a result. His Pro Day was good enough to garner interest from all 32 NFL teams and encouraged NFL analysts to project him as high as a Round Five prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft.  Blessed with speed (4.65-sec 40-yard time) and power (30 reps 225-pounds), Williams is a 6-foot-5 275-pound heat-seeking missile who is surprisingly quick off his three-point stance to the point of gaining position on blockers and closing in for the tackle.

After DE Morgan Fox had gone on to sign with the Carolina Panthers in the offseason, Williams has become an obvious prospect to take over his role.  Will he get his first sack in Week 7? Well, we know that Jared Goff takes time to throw, and that pressure can get to him.

Jonah Williams may have been undrafted, but he is most certainly deserving. Look for some big things out of him in the weeks to come. Yes, maybe even a quarterback sack.