The VandySports 100: No. 29, Chris Williams
Chris Williams starred for Vanderbilt's football team, and went on to be an NFL first-round draft pick. He makes our countdown of 100-greatest VU players at 29; you can follow the countdown to No. 1 here.
Honors and awards: 2006 second-team All-Southeastern Conference (coaches)
2006 SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week
2007 first-team All-SEC (AP, coaches)
2007 SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week
2008 Senior Bowl
2008 NFL Combine
2016 SEC football legend
In the VU record book: Williams does not own or share any major school records.
Before VU: Offensive tackle at Louisiana's Glynn Catholic High, leading team to a 10-2 mark as a senior. Named all-region and all-conference as a senior.
Freshman (2004): Was academically ineligible following a redshirt season.
Sophomore (2005): Split time between left guard and left tackle, playing every game and making nine starts at left guard. First college start came in a 31-23 win over Ole Miss; Williams earned team's Offensive Player of the Week for that performance. Earned the same honor in a loss to MTSU.
Junior (2006): Named the team's offensive line MVP, starting all 12 games at left tackle. Allowed a sack in the opener to Michigan, and then didn't allow one the rest of the season. Shared team OPOTW honors in a win over Temple and a loss to Kentucky, and won it outright in a loss to Tennessee.
Senior (2007): Started all 12 games at left tackle and was again named the line's MVP. Earned a "winning" blocking grade in all 12 games.
Post-VU: The Bears took Williams 14th overall in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Williams's career was somewhat spoiled by injury, but, he played 72 games (starting 57) between the Bears, Rams and Bills between 2008-14.
Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Williams lost some value by leaving some of his career on the table due to academic woes; he was a good student in high school and an engineering major, but he lingers as a cautionary tale to those who don't take VU's academic work seriously enough. There wasn't a lot of winning during his Vanderbilt career (no bowl games) but played a premium position at an All-SEC level for two years (even if one came as a second-team honoree) and was good enough to go in the middle of the first round.
Offensive linemen are hard to quantify, but being great at an important position for two years is a winning combination, and that's why I put Williams this high on the list.