Former Alabama star Quinnen Williams rookie year didnt quite go according to plan. So the New York Jets defensive end went into the offseason determined to make sure that his second season better reflected his ability.
And after losing weight and changing his body, Williams could be ready to remind the Jets why they made him the third overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. According to ESPNs Rich Cimini, Williams dropped six pounds from last years weight of 303, but more than that, he changed his entire mentality.
"I feel like I'm tapped into that zone, tapped into that level that I'm going to be unstoppable," Williams said Wednesday during a Zoom call with reporters.
Changes included cutting out fast food, chowing on seafood and protein and training night and day.
"This year, I'm feeling it, man," Williams said. "I got my body right this offseason. I got my confidence back this offseason. I got a trainer who I've been training my butt off with. ... I just feel it, man. I'm in great shape, great condition. I got my body fat down.
"I'm rocking and rolling. I feel myself being that person that they drafted me to be. I feel like I'm coming into that person -- a dominant defensive tackle in the NFL."
Williams had 28 tackles and 2.5 sacks in his rookie season, and with Jamal Adams traded to the Seattle Seahawks and CJ Mosley opting out of the season, the Jets needed more.
"I reconstructed every aspect of my life around playing football this year, being on the field this year and not making the same mistakes I made last year," Williams said.
The No. 17 defensive tackle and No. 155 overall player in the 2016 247Sports Composite, Williams redshirted his first season in Tuscaloosa, then played in all 14 games as a redshirt freshman, making 20 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks. But that was simply an appetizer for what came in his redshirt sophomore year, when Williams became the most dominant defensive player in college football and finished eighth for the Heisman Trophy.
A unanimous All-American pick, Williams won the Outland Trophy as the best lineman in college football and finished with 71 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks.
That force is what inspired the Jets to take him right after Kyler Murray and Nick Bosa, players who finished their first seasons as the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively. Williams was in that discussion coming into the draft; now hell try to show that hes capable of becoming a foundational defensive piece.
"The biggest thing I keep looking for with him is, how disruptive can you be?" Jets coach Adam Gase said. "[It has to be] within the system, doing your job, but at the same time, making the offensive linemen think about you pre-snap."
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Quinnen Williams puts in work to be 'unstoppable' - 247Sports
