Kyle Williams to Start on Sunday

by: Chris Sullivan

We reported on this earlier in the week, but it's now official: Kyle Williams will start for the Seahawks in the most important position on the line, the Left Tackle (arguably, some might say Center, too, but I'm more concerned about protecting our passer at this point). The first snap of Kyle Williams' NFL career will be as a starter against a decent Jets line.

The Jets run a 3-4 defense, meaning four linebackers and three big fellows on the line. Relatively inexperienced OLB Marques Murrell will be lining up against Williams fairly frequently, with DE Kenyon Coleman having an effect on him as well. From what I can tell, neither are extraordinarily effective at rushing the passer, with Coleman having only 0.5 sacks and 39 tackles and Murrell having 0 sacks and 10 tackles this year.

Williams is a very strong guy with decent size (6'6" 295; this compares to Locklear at 6'4" 308 and Jones at 6'5" 325). What he lacks in weight he makes up for with very long arms and good feet. It appears that he will be fairly matched in his premiere game, but the Jets may well attack him hard with a lot of different looks. Time will tell.

By the way, your Week 15 Starting Offensive Line is as follows:

Kyle Williams.........Floyd Womack........Steve Vallos.........Mansfield Wrotto........Ray Willis
.......LT.....................LG....................C......................RG..................RT........

So uh, this should be interesting. The ragtag group of guys playing the last few weeks have far exceeded any expectations thus far, with Wrotto being a highlight in my mind. Here's hoping Williams can join the list of overachieving backups. ~END~