Former Ravens Pro Bowl DT Signs With Conference Rival: Report

Former Ravens DL Brandon Williams

Getty Former Ravens DL Brandon Williams has found a new home with a familiar foe.

After sitting on the open market for the right opportunity to present itself, long-time Baltimore Ravens nose tackle, Brandon Williams, has found a new home. According to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, the 10-year veteran defensive lineman is signing to the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Williams spent the first nine years of his career with the Ravens after originally being selected in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Missouri Southern at No. 94 overall. He was the anchor in the middle of their defense for nearly a decade after learning under future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Haloti Ngata as a rookie.

He was integral to the team’s incredibly stout run defense during his tenure with the team and his absence was obscenely apparent when he was out of the lineup. Williams made the lone Pro Bowl of his career in  2018 and will be reuniting with former Ravens defensive line coach Joe Cullen who is now in Kansas City serving in the same role with the Chiefs.

The Ravens aren’t currently slated to play the Chiefs in the regular season but there is chance that they could faceoff in the postseason, especially if the road to the Superbowl runs through Kansas City since they are currently hold the No.1 seed in the AFC playoff standings.


Signing Follows Recent Trend of Focus on Run Defense

Williams had been on the open market since his contract expired with the Ravens following the conclusion of the 2021 season but his reported signing marks the latest notable veteran defensive lineman to sign with a contending team to provide depth and improve their run defense.

The Philadelphia Eagles have the best record in the NFL at 10-1 but after they placed stud first round rookie defensive tackle Jordan Davis on injured reserve with an ankle injury, they swiftly signed multi-time Pro Bowl interior defensive linemen Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh. They’ve each played in the team’s past two games and have combined to recorded a sack and nine total tackles, a pair of quarterback hits between them.

With the resurgence of the running game across the league as team’s have elected to pound the rock against lighter boxes and filled undersized defenders in the front seven, having space eaters that take on double teams and stuff the run at a high level are starting to come back into style for teams with championship aspirations.


Ascending Talent Earns Highest PFF Grade in Week 12 

One of the players that Williams mentored during his last two years in Baltimore has been coming on strong for the Ravens as of late had his best game of the season this past week. Third-year pro Broderick Washington earned the highest grade of all the defenders on the team and the second-highest overall after an impressive performance in a losing effort against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The former fifth-round pick out of Texas Tech in 2020 lead all defensive linemen on the team in total tackles with five including one for a loss. He also recorded the second sack of his career on the defense’s first play from scrimmage and logged his second quarterback hit of the season as well.

After last week’s win over the Carolina Panthers, head coach John Harbaugh praised Washington for steady and consistently disruptive play this season. He has been active and appeared in every game this season and has played over 30% of team’s total defensive snaps in all but 10 of the 11 games according to Pro Football Reference.

“Nobody talks too much about Broderick Washington,” he said in press conference on November 21, 2022. “I would say a very physical force in the middle of the defense really all season.”