The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Williams racked up 11 sacks, which was tied for 10th in the NFL. He recorded a career-high 16 tackles for loss, which was tied for ninth in the league. He led all interior defensive linemen in both categories. He ranked fourth out of 118 interior defenders in Pro Football Focus grading.
And for good measure, Williams added three pass deflections and a 92-yard interception return for a touchdown, which was the longest pick-six by a player of 300-plus pounds in NFL history.
However, Williams was initially snubbed from the Pro Bowl last season before being added as an alternate. And now, as former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus put it, there’s another case of disrespect toward the 31-year-old Williams.
On Monday, NFL Network began unveiling its annual Top 100 players list, as voted on the league’s players. Williams checked in at No. 99, which Bumpus believes is too low.
“The disrespect needs to stop when it comes to Leo ‘Big Cat’ Williams,” Bumpus said during Tuesday’s Four Down Territory segment on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy. “Just another thing to keep a chip on his shoulder. He’s gonna be one of the better defensive linemen in the game this year. … Ninety-nine out of 100? He should at least be in the 80s, man. At least in the 80s.”
A potential reason Williams wasn’t ranked higher
Former NFL wideout Bryan Walters, who was filling in as a guest host on Tuesday’s Brock and Salk, had a theory on why Williams wasn’t higher. Walters pointed out that back when he played – from 2011 to 2016 – the Top 100 voting took place during the season. It appears that’s still the case, as a 2024 GQ Sports article reported that the voting occurs between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
For Williams, that coincided with the most dominant stretch of his season. He went on a season-ending tear that included a league-high-tying six sacks and nine tackles for loss over Seattle’s final six games, which earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors for December/January. That included four sacks and four tackles for loss over the final two games, both of which occurred after Christmas.
“Leonard Williams had such a strong finish to his season, (but) that probably didn’t play a role in this voting process,” Walters said. “… So that probably has something to do with it.
