'Swamp Monster' of the Midway

Week 4 of the NFL preseason, games that mean 'nothing' to outsiders, and everything to the men given one last opportunity to prove themselves. For an injury riddled Chicago Bears team, the final 'audition' of the 2015 preseason had a ton of meaning. Many players on defence stood out, making their case to be on the list of 53. Eddie Goldman's concussion may cause him to miss the start of the 2015 season, creating a huge (335Lb) hole the Bears weren't prepared to fill. However, Thursday night, the Bears may have found a solution to their latest problem in NT Terry 'The Swamp Monster' Williams.

Williams played four seasons at East Carolina University, where he began his NCAA career as a linebacker. The following three seasons Williams would make the shift to the defensive line, starting as a defensive tackle, going on to play his final two seasons at nose. Williams showed great flashes in college, ability to disrupt the backfield resulted in close to 15% of his tackles resulting in losses for the opposition. Williams showed great skill in tackling, along with a knack for being in the opposing quarterbacks' face. Williams would finish his college career with a solid stat line, proving had the tools to play nose at a higher level (41 Solo, 84 Ast, 125 Total, 3 Sack, 4 FF, 5 PDef) Coming into the NFL as an undrafted free agent is hard enough, having one game to earn a roster spot, is nearly impossible.

The Bears defence impressed in the final preseason game, posting a shutout in the teams 24-0 victory over the Cleveland Browns, Terry 'the swamp monster' Williams had a lot to do with that. The 353Lb nose tackle was a headache for the Browns offence all night, causing disruptions all over the field. Williams was able to make his presence felt both on and off the scoresheet, finishing the game with an impressive 7 tackles. In a preseason that forced Chicago to adapt a 'next man up' approach, Terry Williams stepped up in a big way.

With the injury to rookie Eddie Goldman, and the regular season approaching, Chicago needed a backup plan at nose heading into week one. In his one game 'prove-it' audition Terry Williams was electric, and may very well have played his way into the role of week one starter for the Chicago Bears.

Follow @byrnemgl

References;

Photo sourced from: http://peachstatecollegesports.com/pscsarticles/terry-the-swamp-monster-williams/