Eagles film: Can diamond in the rough Cameron Williams be Jeff Stoutland’s latest success story?

After concluding the first few rounds of the draft without an offensive lineman, the Eagles stockpiled lottery tickets up front on the third and final day to fill out Jeff Stoutland’s room.

And given the Eagles’ longtime offensive line coach’s track record of developing under-seasoned linemen with “unusual” traits, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see at least one of Drew Kendall, Myles Hinton, and Cameron Williams turn into a serviceable contributor for the team in the long run.

To determine exactly how Williams could turn into the latest Stoutland success story, let‘s look at the tape:

The way Williams lines up is instructive.

The slightly wonky stance, often higher than his fellow Texas offensive linemen, is one of the first things that jumps out when watching Williams’ tape but also serves as an important reminder of just how unpolished he was during his one and only season starting at right tackle for the Longhorns.

At 6-foot-6 and 317 pounds with 34 ½ -inch arms, Williams has the prototypical build of an NFL offensive tackle. And even against elevated competition that included Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams in the SEC championship, Cameron Williams flashed his high-level physical traits with a powerful recovery and the requisite arm length to stymie the No. 11 overall pick’s initial rush.

Those recovery skills and stopping power showed up a handful of times against Georgia, illustrating Williams’ ability to use his size to steady himself at times against rushers trying to get the edge on him.

“Flashed” is the operative word with Williams’ film, though. For every rep where he fired out of his stance effectively, stayed on balance and utilized his combination of power, quickness, and length to neutralize opposing rushers, there were also examples of him getting knocked off balance or misplacing his hands.

Against Georgia edge rusher Gabe Harris Jr. later in the Longhorns’ 22-19 loss, Williams was late to throw his hands, fell off balance, and committed a holding penalty. According to Pro Football Focus, Williams was called for holding six times last season and was charged with a whopping 16 total penalties — the majority of which were false starts — in 15 games.

His lack of experience showed up in a major way when asked to handle unconventional rush looks as well. There were a handful of occasions where he was either too late to pick up a blitz coming from off the edge or unsuccessful in passing off assignments when dealing with two defensive linemen running stunts against him.

Even when he could diagnose things just after the snap, he sometimes struggled to adjust in time to deal with the oncoming rush, which also exposed his tendency to get knocked off balance.

Still, Williams’ reps in pass protection showcase plenty of upside for Stoutland to work with. Whether it‘s the stance, the hand usage, or the rush recognition, most of Williams’ shortcomings in pass protection are correctable and can be partially explained by his lack of experience. And at 21 years old, there’s a strong case, albeit hypothetical, that Williams may have been a Day 1 prospect if he spent another season developing at Texas rather than declaring for the NFL draft.

And for those wondering about the potential for Williams to bump inside to guard (more on that later), here’s a look at how he fared against a bull rush coming from a head-up rusher in the SEC championship.

In the run game, there was a similar mix of good traits and bad technique from Williams.

Here’s the good: He has plenty of athleticism to get out into space, either climbing to the second level, pulling across the formation, or working upfield on screen passes to pick on smaller defenders.

He also had moments where his play strength showed up as well, especially when asked to use his powerful hands to turn an edge defender’s shoulders to create a running lane for the ballcarrier.

That power was inconsistent, though, largely because he tended to shoot up and out of his stance and take on blocks without ideal pad level. For what it‘s worth, Williams said pad level was one of the major aspects of his game he wants to improve on during a news conference last week.

“My footwork, my pad level, my punching,” Williams said. “That‘s really about it, really, my technique.”

His tendency to stand up out of his stance, which was already slightly high, as we established earlier, makes his projection to playing guard a harder one, at least early in his career.

There were also instances where quicker defensive linemen operating from an inside shade could side-step him in the run game, which would be even more amplified by bumping him inside.

Still, Williams’ physical traits make him the type of young, moldable offensive tackle prospect the Eagles should be adding to Stoutland’s room.

If he can make strides from a technique standpoint and continue improving his feel for the position to cut down on the penalties, he has all the tools to become an NFL starter down the road. The flashes were there in his college tape. It just depends on how big a leap he can take now that he’s enrolled in Stoutland University.