Sylvester Williams quietly excels in Chargers debut

Joey Bosa was the standout on Sunday, but free agent acquisition Sylvester Williams quietly had a nice day of his own on significant snaps.

In a tight win over the Chicago Bears, the Los Angeles Chargers were the beneficiaries of some outstanding games by a few of their key starters. Regular stars included Joey Bosa, Casey Hayward, and Russell Okung; all with exceptional games overall. But one guy completely flew under the radar: Interior defensive lineman Sylvester Williams.

Williams is a former first-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos, and has spent time with the Tennessee Titans, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, and New Orleans Saints as well. If it’s not apparent from the list already, Williams has yet to stick on a roster following his tenure with the Broncos, and the Chargers are his fifth team since 2017.

But Tom Telesco may have struck again, finding a potential gem in the trash heap of available free agents.

With the injuries to Brandon Mebane and Justin Jones, Telesco brought in Williams to man the interior with Jerry Tillery. And in his first game with the Chargers, No. 96 put up a solid performance.

Oh my… Sylvester Williams. pic.twitter.com/MkfZROm8D6

— Jason Balliet II (@Syntari13) October 29, 2019

Williams logged on quarterback hurry, one assisted tackle, and one pass defended on 29 snaps (12 run defense, 17 pass rush), giving him an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 87.5.

Rookie Cortez Broughton once posted a similar grade earlier in the season, but no one was particularly excited by the score since it came on just three snaps. This is different; for comparison, Tillery has only played more snaps in a game than Williams did just twice this season (44 and 42 in Week 7 and Week 8, respectively). Is it a sign of things to come, or just a one-hit wonder? No time to regress now, as Aaron Rodgers comes to town in just a few days.