Whether it's because of his elite play at USC or his unique athletic ability for a player his stature, USC's Leonard Williams is considered by many to be the top defensive player in this year's draft class.
NFL.com's Ian Rapoprt is reporting that USC defensive lineman Leonard Williams is currently scheduled to visit the Washington Redskins on Wednesday.
Williams is considered by many to be the top defensive player in this year's draft and has been somewhere in the top five of virtually every experts' mock drafts.
Along with being an All-American following a highly productive junior season in which he recorded 80 tackles with seven sacks, Williams was also named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2014, and earned several postseason honors from various media outlets.
Williams – who checks in at 6-foot-5 and weighs 302 pounds – ran a sub-five-second 40-yard dash and recorded a 29.5-inch vertical jump February at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
At USC's pro day in March, Williams stood on his combine numbers and just participated in position-specific drills with Tennessee Titans defensive line coach Giff Smith.
"I'm definitely going to be confident in myself," Williams said of the draft process that day. "I do believe I'm a great player and I'm not going to brag and boast about myself, but if it comes down to a team asking me, I'm going to tell them you got your pick."
According to his NFL.com profile, Williams is a" supremely gifted interior lineman with length, athleticism and elite power."
"Lined up just about everywhere along the line at one point or another," his profile continues. "Able to jolt offensive linemen with powerful hands and is extremely hard to redirect for offensive linemen once he gets going downhill. Explosive hip snap to leverage blockers and is rarely moved from his gap. Often a read-and-react two-gapper and plays peek-a-boo with running backs while discarding blockers at will when he's ready to tackle. Too much play strength for zone blockers to cross-face him. Fires out with low pad level when playing the run and is difficult to submarine on short yardage. Has feet and brute force to recover and get back into a play after being beaten early. Dangerous pass rusher from twist game, showing big closing burst. Effort rusher who will eventually get home if single-blocked. Beginning to develop spin move as pass-rush counter. Showed intriguing potential as a pass-rushing end in space. Frame able to hold more weight and muscle," states the rest of his strengths section."
Check out these photos of Leonard Williams, a versatile defensive end out of the University of Southern California.
In his most recent mock draft, NFL Network's Charles Davis has Williams switching his USC cardinal and gold for Redskins burgundy and gold.
"The Titans end any discussion of Marcus Mariota landing in Washington, but no tears are shed in DC. The Redskins happily welcome the versatile defender to the nation's capital," he wrote.
RELATED LINKS:
-- Report: Dante Fowler Visits The Redskins
-- Report: Vic Beasley To Visit The Redskins
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