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When the Buffalo Bills invested $96 million on DE Mario Williams, it immediately captured the attention of the fantasy football world. People bought into the hype and were excited about the potential of him being on a line with Mark Anderson, Marcell Dareus, and Kyle Williams.
Williams started off his career in Buffalo exceptionally slow though. He only recorded 1.5 sacks through his first five games in Western New York and many fantasy owners ended up cutting the former first overall pick.
As he started to get more comfortable, though, Williams started to produce more. He ended the season with 10.5 sacks and recorded nine sacks over the last 12 games. He finished as one of the hottest defensive linemen in fantasy, but no one seemed to notice due to his slow start.
However, new defensive coordinator, Mike Pettine, has already started transitioning the unit back to the 3-4 defense. One person that this change will obviously affect is their superstar defensive end. The team has said that they will keep Williams on the line, but they have also claimed that his athleticism could force him to be moved around.
For the time being, consider Williams a defensive end, but that could quickly change by the time Week 1 rolls around. Several IDP owners will shy away from grabbing Williams simply because he could end up being only LB-eligible. However, he is still an elite defensive option, regardless of where he officially lines up on Sunday.
There will be an adjustment period for the pass rusher with the new defense, especially if he switches positions, so Williams could fall far in drafts this year. His value was sky-high entering last summer, but fantasy owners should take advantage of his sleeper status during drafts this season.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
