STRENGTHS
Will is an explosive Edge Rusher/Defensive End with excellent strength and power to play in any style of defensive front. He does an excellent job setting the edge against the run and can play in a 1-gap or 2-gap system. His size, play style, and explosiveness on the field remind’s me a lot of Former Cowboys/49ers Charles Haley and for you younger Draftniks, Steelers T.J. Watt. He is so powerful and in spite of his lack of positional height, his college team will use him as a defensive tackle in goal-line situations and will move him inside on situational passing third downs. Will might be one of the best Edge Rushers coming out that uses excellent hand techniques to defeat his opponent when pass-rushing. He shows excellent leadership skills through his mature play on the field and I suspect this maturity also reflects the same off the field. Will, could easily be selected as the first player in this draft by many teams who are in the hunt for one of the top Defensive players in this draft.
CONCERNS
After a 2020 season when Will’s play on the field reminded me a lot of Charles Haley, teams decided to game plan against him, and although he still got double digits sacks and plenty of tackles you could see the frustration in his overall play. That being said, it should not affect his status in this draft because I suspect his workouts and interviews will be outstanding.
BOTTOM LINE: 1.40
Teams game planned and ran away from Will and that’s why he was moved inside in some situations to allow him to help out against the run and on passing downs to nullify teams running and rolling out, away from him when he just played on the Edge. When I saw Alabama using him inside in goal-line situations that’s when I knew this guy had remarkable talent and leadership skills. I did see a difference in his play from years before but I also saw an increase in his team play, scheme play, and his leadership skills. I saw a more well-rounded player who decided that stats was not everything. Will is projected to be an impact player at the next level and although this year his stats were not as good as past years, his play was just as impacting for his college team. I believe, the team that selects him will get a Charles Haley/T.J. Watt type of impact player and that should be good enough for all 32 teams to consider him as a top pick in this draft.
