Lunch with Larry: James 'Big Cat' Williams

The fan question of the week and winner of a Connie’s Pizza gift card comes from Nick P., who asks: What do you wish the average football fan knew about the job of an offensive lineman?

Big Cat’s answer: “I think it’s a lot more complex than people think when you talk about the ability of five guys working together, and them having time together is very important for an offensive line. As an individual, some of the things people may not know that you have to know are the things that I was taught by [offensive line coach] Tony Wise as far as on any particular play you have to know exactly what’s going on, not only at your position but at the positions around you. As a right tackle, I need to know what the right guard is doing. I need to know what the tight end is doing if there’s one lined up beside me. I need to know if the back is behind me and what his responsibility is. He is chipping? Is he going out in a route? The quarterback depth: is it a three-step drop, is it a five-step drop, is it a seven-step drop?

Along with all those things, you also need to know what routes the receivers are running. If a receiver is running a slant and go, it’s going to take a little longer than just a slant. So you have to make up for that extra step that the quarterback’s going to take, the extra time that the wide receiver has to take to get back into his designated route.”