Giants Optimistic About Unlocking Leonard Williams' Potential

The Giants need Leonard Williams to finally take that long-awaited step forward as a pass rusher. Defensive line coach Sean Spencer is going to do all he can to make sure that happens this year.

For years the talk surrounding New York Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams has bordered on the disappointing side.

That’s understandable given that Williams, the sixth overall pick in the 2015 draft, came with such high expectations as an all-around defensive lineman.

But while Williams has had a modicum of success developing as a pass rusher in his five-year career, he hasn’t quite lived up to his draft billing, something that Giants defensive line coach Sean Spencer is looking to help change.

"He's doing a great job of taking the classroom work and what we do in the meetings prior to practice and being able to bring that out on the field," Spencer said. "I think he's starting to put it all together. He's always had the tools; he's working on refining his craft right now."

Williams proved he's capable of making an impact on the defense after being traded to the Giants from the Jets halfway through the 2019 season.

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In eight games with the Giants, Williams finished third on the defense with 31 total pressures. He also ranked 13th in pressure rate at 11.3 percent (out of 87 defensive linemen) and tied for the lead in quarterback hits (19) with Calais Campbell.

After Williams was acquired in Week 8, the Giants defensive line combined for 82 run defense stops of zero or negative yards. But his half-sack total from last season is what stuck in the craw of many critics of the trade which saw the Giants send the Jets a third-round pick in this year’s class and a fifth-rounder for next year.

Williams has the chance to change that narrative in 2020 with improved sack totals. Spencer believes Williams has the natural athleticism to achieve that this year, it's just a matter of getting the right technique down.

"He's a tremendous athlete,” Spencer said. “We’ve got to take him from being just a tremendous athlete to refining him as a football player.”

Sometimes with players, the expectations can gravitate into viewing them as something they’re not. In Williams, for example, he can rush the passer, but his struggles have been finishing the job.

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"Clearly there are things that he's going to do very really well, and you want to use those tools. But at the same time in the framework of what I'm teaching, he's doing those things and trying to articulate those things on the field."

Spencer has been trying to get Williams and the rest of the defensive linemen to finish plays by running after them if they fail to go that extra step or two. The hope is that with Williams in particular, who often last year was just a hair or two away from finishing the job, the sacks and pressures increase.

So far, the Giants franchise player has been receptive to Spencer’s tactics.

"I love working with Coach Spencer so far," Williams said earlier this summer. "I like his energy and the way he coaches his guys. He’s real hands-on. He has that loud, deep voice that as a d-line coach, it’s kind of something that I like."

The 26-year-old defensive lineman will probably like it even more as he seeks to earn a multiyear contract offering a big payday from the Giants or another team who sees Williams as a long-term investment worth having on the roster.

"I’m definitely still a young player in this league," Williams said. "I feel like I still have a lot in the tank. I still feel like I have a lot of years left in me to play in this league. I think I just need to keep going and take it day by day."