Pro Football Focus graded Quinnen Williams as the No. 12 overall interior defender in the NFL in 2020, but the former No. 3 overall pick doesn't believe he's come close to peaking yet.
Williams was in good spirits Monday after being activated from the physically unable to perform list following surgery on a broken bone in his foot in May. Still just 23, Williams says that he's still a student, especially since he's being asked to transition from a 3-4 defense to the 4-3 scheme that Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich have brought to New York.
"I feel like I'm still learning," Williams said Monday, per SNY. "From year one to year two, it went by so fast and I learned so much. I feel like I haven't scratched the surface.
"I just redid my whole entire stance. Like, you learn that in little league. ... So for me to go and have to relearn how to get into my stance so I can unleash the explosiveness that I have...so that I can be able to perform in this scheme well...that does tell you that I haven't scratched the surface on what I can become."
Williams has plenty of reason to be excited as he looks around at the defensive line around him. General manager Joe Douglas signed former first-round pick Sheldon Rankins to a two-year/$17 million deal, as the one-time New Orleans Saint will pair inside with Williams. On the edge, the Jets added Carl Lawson on a three-year/$45 million deal. Veteran Vinny Curry (currently on the non-football injury list) -- who was part of a Super Bowl-winning team when Douglas was in the Philadelphia Eagles front office -- will also play a role for the team in 2021.
"...I know Carl is a great player, just like everybody else in that room that has great attributes and qualities," Williams said of the team's revamped defensive line. "We'll be able to feed off each other -- everybody will be able to work. When you got a family full of sharks, you all gonna eat. So that's how I look at it."
In a division where the Buffalo Bills are a legitimate Super Bowl contender and both the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots are expecting to reach the postseason, 2021 is unlikely to be a playoff season for the Jets. However, C.J. Mosley is back after opting out of the 2020 season. Zach Wilson, this year's No. 2 overall pick, seemingly has the chance to be a special quarterback. And if Williams continues to develop into one of the sport's top interior defensive linemen, the Jets may just have a pretty bright future.
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