Notre Dame Film Room: 2024 Defensive End Mylachi Williams
Defensive line recruiting has been a fascinating thing to watch in the 2024 recruiting class for Notre Dame. There are a ton of questions to answer but a lot of talent on the board to quickly find those answers.
Among the talented defenders on the board, Drexel Hill (Pa.) Monsignor Bonner pass rusher Mylachi Williams possesses some of the highest upside. Let’s take a look what the Pennsylvania native has to offer on film.
PROSPECT PROFILE
Hometown/High School: Drexel Hill, Pa./Monsignor Bonner
Height/Weight: 6-5, 210
IB Grade: 4.0 (Top 150 caliber prospect)
Upside Grade: 5.0
Offers: Notre Dame, Georgia, Michigan, USC, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Duke, West Virginia, Boston College, Syracuse, Rutgers
FILM ROOM
Here is the breakdown of Williams on film.
Size/Frame/Power - Length, length and more length. On film, Williams closely resembles a pterodactyl with an absolutely insane wingspan and narrow frame. That frame is incredibly lean, having all the room in the world to add a steady amount of size and mass over time. Williams does have a thin lower body, leaving something to be desired in terms of raw power.
The Pennsylvania native does play a tough and durable style of football but will be in need of a ton of maturation early on in his college career. As that power develops, it should also give some necessary boost to his hand strength, which is just solid currently. Williams’ ability to anchor and drive opposing offensive lineman will be limited while he plays around his current 210 pounds.
Athletic Skills - From a pure athleticism perspective, you won’t find much better than Williams. For a player as high cut as Williams, he is incredibly explosive out of his stance with superb quickness to change direction adequately in space. Quite simply, his moment skills are extremely rare. Williams is able to quickly turn the corner and bend without losing an ounce of explosiveness.
His reactionary quickness is also insane, showing the talent to quickly read and react without losing a step. Once he locks in on a target, his closing speed is on full display. He makes up ground in a hurry, showcasing an outstanding talent to finish plays in the backfield. Williams is a coordinated mover with the athletic profile to win as a speed rusher consistently.
Technique/Instincts - Mostly working out of a two point stance, Williams is incredibly springy early on in reps. He comes out low and hard, having the ability to win the outside track in a hurry. Williams also has quick hands to swipe and win at the top of the track, again showing the ability to get off of blocks and make plays. There is already a push-pull evident on his film, allowing Williams to quickly disengage from blockers as well.
Williams’ initial quickness is one of the best assets for him. Whether he is anticipating the snap or reaching to a ball carrier, he can quickly close the ground early on in reps to make a bevy of plays. Williams closely resembles a praying mantis as a tackler. The size of his tackle radius is extraordinary.
Run Game - Williams does play with good early leverage in reps for the most part. The biggest hole in his game right now is that he does lack that raw power to consistently work through contact. That does make his pads rise at times, losing some power in the process. He does a nice job to keep blockers off of his chest with his exceptionally long arms and has the hand violence to fight to keep them off.
Williams is a ton better working on the backside of runs currently, where he can work in pursuit more exclusively. On the front side of runs, he can struggle to counteract physicality and play with hand violence.
Pass Game - It doesn’t take long to see the early impact that Williams can have as a pass rusher. Out of his stance, he employs a dynamite first step to win early on in reps. He also plays with good bend in his lower half to quickly turn and run the arc. From a pass rushing perspective, Williams is a speed rusher who is tough to counteract around the track.
There isn’t much need on the high school level for much else in the arsenal with opposing offensive tackles struggling to counteract his athleticism. Williams’ angles of pursuit can improve. He does come flat a ton, which doesn’t hurt him much now but could do so down the road. When used in pass coverage, Williams looks pretty natural. Williams even hauled in a really nice interception as a junior by jumping a passing lane.
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
It’s obvious what Williams biggest area of improvement is - he just needs to get bigger. He is a lanky athlete right now who doesn’t have the necessary bulk to find a role early on in a full time capacity. While Williams fills out, it will add more power to his game. That is an area of attention needed moving forward.
Angles of pursuit is the other major improvement needed for Williams. Quite frankly, it doesn’t hurt him much now. Williams is so fast and explosive that he is able to make up for mistakes on the high school level. As the game gets faster on the next level, he will need to make sure that his angles are consistent.
NOTRE DAME FIT
Williams is an ideal fit as a Vyper in Notre Dame’s system. He is long and explosive, possessing the ability to win working from the boundary. Williams is also comfortable working in space and dropping into coverage, something that will be needed at times. Early on in his career, he could make a massive impact as a pass rush specialist while he develops.
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