Brandon Williams is a big-bodied run-stuffer. He's one of the best in the league at containing the interior of the line, and he got paid handsomely this offseason because of that with a five-year, $52.5 million contract from the Baltimore Ravens.
In order to justify a deal like that, though, Williams also knows that he needs to do more. He can't just be a two-down player and he can't just be a force against the run. He needs to push the pocket and get to the quarterback.
"I need to get my sacks up," Williams said, per ESPN.com. "I need to get my pass-rushing up. I am excited. I just had a meeting with our D-line coach, Coach [Joe] Cullen yesterday, about me kind of fine-tuning. I have the run-stop. I could still work on it, obviously, but I'm more just trying to work on my pass rush, trying to get out there and do the best I can."
Williams totaled 4.5 sacks across his first four seasons in the NFL. The Ravens run a 3-4 for the most part, so his role hasn't been really to get to the quarterback but to occupy blockers so that his teammates can slice through clean lanes. Baltimore is fourth in the NFL in sacks during his time in the league, but dropped down to 26th last season.
The Ravens drafted a few pass-rushers in the middle rounds of this year's draft in Tyus Bowser, Chris Wormley and Tim Williams. It's possible that rushers coming from different angles will open things up for Williams up the middle, but it's more likely that Williams' role continues to be the same and any additional sacks from him will come from beating the man in front of him one-on-one.
It's not unheard for a player like Williams to make a jump in sacks: Giants run-stopper Damon Harrison had 2.5 sacks last season after having only 1.5 through his first four seasons. Harrison moved from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3, though, so that's a bit different. If Baltimore mixes up formations more often this season and lets Williams play one-gap instead of two, then he could find himself in the quarterback's face more often.
