One of the stalwarts of the Denver defense, D.J. Williams, took a big step Sunday toward becoming a career Bronco.
Recently named a captain for the 2008 season by his teammates, the fifth-year linebacker signed a five-year contract extension through the 2013 season, Head Coach Mike Shanahan announced.
Williams got started early after his was chosen in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He became the first rookie in Broncos history to lead the club in tackles with 114 stops in 2004 en route to finishing third in NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting and earning Pro Football Weekly/PFWA all-rookie honors that season. And he hasn’t stopped since, never missing a game since his rookie campaign. He has played in all 64 regular season games, and started all three playoff games — the only Broncos defender to see time in all 67 games during that span.
Known primarily as a weak side linebacker, last season Williams played at the middle linebacker position for the first time in his career. During the 2007 campaign he was credited with a team-high 170 tackles, the most by a Denver player in five seasons. According to press box statistics, he led the AFC and was second in the NFL in tackles. That says something about the ability Williams has to dominate on the defensive side of the ball.
Now in 2008, Williams will line up at a position with which he is more comfortable, switching with Nate Webster, who will now take over the Mike linebacker position.
Williams has had a knack for the ball during his career. In addition to his 438 career tackles, he has racked up four sacks, two interceptions and seven forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. That versatility was something the Broncos didn’t want anywhere else in the league, and Sunday’s move cemented Williams in Denver for quite some time.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Contract, D.J. Williams, Gray Caldwell
this is great news!!
this is huge to the broncos organization and im happy that we got this done so early in the season……….now we need to work on doom and b-marsh’s contracts
I read this on nfl.com this morning. Made me happy.
Awesome. Awesome to the max.
great news!
Very cool – now he can focus on the season at hand!
williams will be the cornerstone of the defense for the years to come!!!!
goodluck broncos
Bmarsh111: Royal WILL be better than deshaun, just watch the game tomorrow night and there will be no reason to say more.
So Happy they rewarded this guy after switching around and you never heard him complain. DID ANYONE SEE THE CHARGERS CHOKE. YEAH BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chargers suck……………..
GO BRONCOS KICK SOME AL DAVIS BUTT.
im so happy now we need to get marshall on a new contract
AFC West update:
Chiefs falls….
2 to go…
Chargers going down…
1 to go….
Faiders ur next!!!!
Go Broncos
Brady out, San Diego lost, Indianapolis lost, what else is going to happen???
great move lets make sure we get all of our top guys taken care of. now all we need is a mlb to go along with him.
I can’t wait to watch DJ play this season back at his natural position at weak side linebacker. I still remember him as a rookie playing in that position and how effective he was. He will be better than ever this year and I expect he will have his best season ever. He will raise havoc!
wud a happy day,,years to come WLB-Dj/MLB-Ray Mauluga/SLB-Woodyard….
i hope we pull every string possible to grab Mauluga of USC….
Finally, MNF tomorrow….omg!chargers down??i want a see the looks on Phillips and Tomlinsons faces…………
i was kind of anxious to see Cutler go up against Brady…champ vs moss….
Maualuga would be nice but I think he’s long gone before we get to pick, I am hoping for Brandon Spikes (not as big a hitter or intimidator but great athleticism). As for the Patriot news, I am sorry to see him hurt but now maybe something else will be the topic of discussion on Sunday pregame shows (I just pray its not about Brady every week now).
that charger game was huge! we can take a one game lead in the division in the first week! Good move with DJs new deal. He could be a hall of famer one day.
yeah i think mauluga will be gone.. only way we get a chance at him is if we get a top 10 pick which i doubt will happen.. Spikes is good big like 6-3/6-4 241 pretty big.. good athleticism.. shanny has a thing for picking florida/ miami players.. dj thomas moss jackson webster manuel.. i would love to get spikes and shanny is picking MLB 1st pick no doubt
TU_Hurricane – Be careful what you wish for. Once they run out of “how will Brady’s injury affect this season” storylines I can only assume they will shift to, “With Brady out, can anyone stop Brett Farve and the Jets?” At least until the wheels fall off that team, which I estimate to be around… Week 7.
What a waste of money! DJ Williams is a C- Linebacker at best. He misses more tackles than he makes. Watch him tonight, he will be up to his ole out-of-position, falling down, missed tackle self. Denver use to be known for game changing linebackers, now we are stuck with 3rd rate linebackers and very few prospects. Maybe we can get Tom Jackson, Karl Mecklenberg and Randy Gradishar out of retirement.out of retirement!
You know, it would be nice to have the Broncos leading the AFC West after the first week. . .
but it would be a NIGHTMARE if it were the Raiders in the lead!
GO BRONCOS!!!
Lukehabu – Umm, what? DJ was second in the league in tackles last year, playing out of his natural position. If “he misses more tackles than he makes” then pretty much every single play must have gone right to him. If you consider DJ a 3rd rate linebacker, you’ll simply never be satisfied, and if that’s the case, sorry for the lifetime of disappointment.
hei Lukehabu??be reasonable,,,the guy led the team in tackles his first year,,moved all over the place and still managed to be second in the league in tackles last year…i think it was a total in the 170s with 140 solo…i say thats first rate linebacker material,,,,hes not a passrusher,,more of like a chase the ball-carrier,,side-line-side line defender….a keith bulluck-type…..he intimidates the backfield…..
oh about that Spikes kid u guys are talking about….i’m going to go see some film on him…. as for Mauluga,,i still wish grab him…besides we could have a chance..with Laurinittis leading the group of up and coming MLBs, Mauluga could fall a bit to later 10ths…its all wishfull thinking….
Lukehabu- you are a moron!
Good job broncos! And good job DJ, you deserve this.