Fourth-round selection making noise as rookie

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Leon Williams may prove to be an impact player earlier than expected.

BEREA (AP) — While Kellen Winslow was recovering from his motorcycle accident last season, the tight end did a little scouting and recruiting for Browns general manager Phil Savage.

The former Miami standout knew there was another Hurricane who could do some damage for Cleveland.

"I told Phil just take a look at this guy Leon Williams from Miami," Winslow said. "He didn't even start down there in the 4-3, but I told Phil he would be a great fit in the 3-4 system. They looked at him and liked him in the combine and everything."

The Browns like Williams more than ever.

In his first training camp, Williams has shown signs of being an impact player in his first NFL season.

"He has opened some people's eyes," said inside linebacker Andra Davis. "He's very smart. He has instincts."

Driven

And, Davis noted, Williams has drive.

"He's coming in with a chip on his shoulder like I did as a fourth-round draft pick," said Davis, the 141st overall pick in 2002 who has become a team leader and Cleveland's best defensive player. "He wants to prove he's as good as those guys taken in the first and second rounds."

Williams certainly passes the eye test. The 6-foot-2, 238-pounder from Brooklyn, N.Y., is an impressive mix of size and speed. At times, he has appeared out of plays and then been able to get back in them by either throwing away a blocker or blowing past one with a quick burst.

"He's fast with real good instincts," Winslow said. "At Miami, we played a lot of man-to-man coverage, so he can man up with anybody."

Getting a chance

Although he's listed behind Davis on the depth chart, Williams got some time with the first-team defense earlier this week when coach Romeo Crennel moved Davis over from the strong to the weak side inside linebacker.

Crennel said he was simply rotating players, and the move had nothing to do with Williams' performance in camp. But Williams approached his time with the No. 1 defense as a chance to learn and another chance to show what he can do.

"It means a lot to me to be out there with the first team," he said. "I look at it as an opportunity to get better."

Williams made only six starts while he was at Miami, where the talent pool is as deep as at any major program. To this day, Williams remembers the you've-got-to-be-kidding looks he got in Florida when people learned he was a kid from New York City.

"They didn't even think we had football fields out there," Williams said.

There's no doubt he belongs on one.

Friday, August 4, 2006