Senior Bowl: Williams gets a shot to coach offensive line
When Senior Bowl practices begin here Tuesday, Isaac Williams will be a little busier than the rest of the Steelers coaches in attendance at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
Williams, the Steelers’ assistant offensive line coach, has been tapped to coach the offensive line for the American team at this year’s Senior Bowl.
It’s the second year in a row that Steelers assistant coaches will be on staff for the Senior Bowl under the revamped rules for the game that spread the coaching duties across the league.
Previously the teams were coached by the entire staff of two specific teams. Last year, the Senior Bowl opened the coaching duties up, permitting teams to recommend individual assistants for the various positions.
In 2023, the Steelers had two assistants working the game. Secondary coach Grady Brown served as the defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach Denzel Martin coached that unit for the National Team.
Williams joined the Steelers in 2022 after previously coaching at North Carolina Central, Morgan State and Northern Colorado at the collegiate level. He played collegiately at Alcorn State.
Williams will share the line duties with Chris Watt of the Colts.
They’ll be tasked with coaching a talented group that includes Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton, Connecticut guard Christian Haynes and Georgia center Sedrick Van Pran, among others.
• A year ago at this time, Wisconsin defensive tackle Keeanu Benton was on the radar of most draftniks, but there were questions about just where he fit into the puzzle that is the NFL Draft.
After a strong week here in Mobile, Ala., Benton solidified himself as one of the top defensive tackles available in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Steelers selected Benton with the 49th overall pick in the draft and he would go on to play in all 17 games, starting nine.
Lolley is a Contributing Writer/Editor and co-host of “SNR Drive” on Steelers Nation Radio. His opinions do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
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The top prospects in this year’s game include some of the best prospects available for this year’s NFL Draft, which will be held April 25-27.
Here’s a little primer on some of those players who have accepted invitations. Rosters, however, change regularly based on injuries and other issues.
On the offensive side of things, there’s a strong contingent of offensive linemen slated to play this year, including Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga, Washington’s Troy Fautanu, Arizona’s Jordan Morgan, Oklahoma’s Guyton, Kingsley Suamataia of BYU, Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, Patrick Paul of Houston and Kansas State’s Cooper Beebe, among others.
All are considered prospects who could be selected in the top three rounds of this year’s draft, making the offensive line group incredibly deep.
Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., lead the quarterback contingent that also includes South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, Joe Mitlon of Tennessee and Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman.
At running back, Kentucky’s Ray Davis and MarShawn Lloyd top most pre-draft lists, while Jawhar Jordan of Louisville and South Dakota State’s Isaiah Davis aren’t far behind.
The wide receiver class in 2024 is considered deep and talented and South Carolina’s Xavier Legette is among that group. He’ll head a Senior Bowl roster that also includes Georgia’s Ladd McConkey, Devontez Walker of North Carolina, Florida State’s Johnny Wilson and Malachi Corely of Western Kentucky.
On the defensive side of the ball, the cornerbacks offer marquee value as Missouri’s Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo and Kalen King of Penn State will be in attendance. All have some first-round buzz and shouldn’t have to wait too long to hear their names called on draft weekend.
Caelen Carson of Wake Forest, TCU’s Josh Newton, D.J. James of Auburn and Max Melton of Rutgers round out a top-notch group.
They’ll be joined on the back end of the defense by Miami (Fla.) safety Kamren Kinchens, Georgia’s Javon Bullard, Cole Bishop of Utah and Washington State’s Jaden Hicks.
The Texas duo of Byron Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat head a defensive line group that also includes Michael Hall Jr. of Ohio State, Ruke Orhorhoro and Tyler Davis of Clemson and McKinnley Jackson of Texas A&M.
Edge rusher Laiatu Latu of UCLA might be the most highly-regarded player in the game and could be one of the first defensive players selected in this year’s draft. He’ll be joined by Alabama’s Chris Braswell, Adisa Isaac of Penn State and Western Michigan’s Marshawn Kneeland.
At linebacker, N.C. State’s Payton Wilson will be an interesting player to watch. He’s extremely talented, but had some major injuries in college.
North Carolina’s Cedric Gray, Ohio State’s Tommy Eichenberg and Marist Liufau round out the top players at off-ball linebacker.
• New to the game this year is that participating players don’t have to be members of the 2024 college senior class. As part of new NFL rules enacted to allow teams to get a better look at underclassmen who have declared for the draft, they may also apply to participate in the postseason all-star games.
Players who have completed at least three years of college – redshirt sophomores and true juniors – can apply for special admission to the NFL prior to the Jan. 15 deadline and thus be accepted to all-star games such as the Senior Bowl.
This year, there were 54 underclassmen who were granted special eligibility for the 2024 NFL Draft.
• The Steelers will have their full contingent of coaches and scouts in attendance this week – though they won’t all necessarily be happy to be in Mobile.
Had the Steelers still been playing, the coaching staff would not have been in attendance.
“I’d rather be working,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “The thought of going to Mobile (Ala.) turns my stomach. Not that I dislike Mobile, but I know what it’s like when you’re working and you’re not in Mobile. It’s a really good feeling to be in that tournament as the road gets narrow. And to be living out the things that you aspired to live out over the last 12-months. And so, it’s not us and it sucks.”
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