Alabama's Williams visits team despite drug issues

It's no secret by now that the Steelers are wanting to bring in pass rushers for the future. The team hosted two more players with that skill set Tuesday as Alabama's Tim Williams and Villanova's Tanoh Kpassagno came through Rooney Sports Complex.



Williams presents a valuable option if you can get through his troubled past. The 6-3, 244-pound outside linebacker is rated as one of the NFL Draft's top prospects by most but could likely fall to the second or third round because of his issues with failed drug tests while at Alabama.

Walter Football's Charlie Campbell cited league sources as saying that Williams' “substance abuse issues are very serious in the realm of Dallas Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory.” Williams was also arrested and charged with carrying a pistol without a permit while at Alabama.

On the field, Williams had 31 tackles last season, which included 16 tackles for loss and 9.0 sacks. He ended his career 57 tackles and 20 sacks in 34 games.

CBS Sports ranks him as the top outside linebacker prospect in the draft and the 17th-best prospect overall. Williams could also convert to a defensive end, as NFL scouts have said, "He's like the Predator. When he's allowed to do just one thing — get the quarterback — he is really good at it. Don't ask him to do much more than that, though. He's going to be a high-rep player and I don't know if NFL defenses are going to trust him to do more than just rush."

As for Kpassagno, the 6-7, 290-pound defensive end ranked sixth in the FCS with 21.5 tackles for loss and tying for fifth nationally with 11 sacks. His biggest asset is probably his smarts, scouts say. 

Here is a list of who has visited the Steelers so far (16 official visits, 3 unofficial visits). They are permitted 30 official pre-draft visits and an unlimited amount of unofficial visits:

QB: Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech (April 3)
QB: Josh Dobbs, Tennessee (April 3)
QB: Nathan Peterman, Pitt (April 10 – Unofficial)


WR: Kenny Golladay, Northern Illinois (April 3)
WR: Josh Reynolds, Texas A&M (April 3)
WR: Chris Godwin, Penn State (April 6)

RB: James Conner, Pitt (April 6 – Unofficial)

OLB: Takk McKinley, UCLA (April 4)
OLB: Derek Rivers, Youngstown State (April 4)
OLB: Zach Cunningham, Vanderbilt (April 7)
OLB: Carroll Phillips, Illinois (April 7)
OLB: Sam Ebukam, Eastern Washington (April 10)
OLB: Tim Williams, Alabama (April 11)

S: Monte Nicholson, Michigan State (April 4 — Unofficial)
S: Joshua Jones, North Carolina State (April 6)
S: Budda Baker, Washington (April 6)

CB: Jourdan Lewis, Michigan (April 4)

ILB: Jarrad Davis, Florida (April 6)

DE: Tanoh Kpassagno, Villanova (April 11)