Five First-Team All-Pro nods. Six Pro Bowls. More than 500 tackles and 100 tackles for loss, 63 sacks, 73 passes defensed, 10 forced fumbles, 13 fumble recoveries, 5 interceptions and 4 defensive touchdowns.

That'd be a stellar, all-around career for a linebacker or defensive back.

Now, try a 6-foot-5, 311-pound defensive lineman that spent 11 of 13 NFL seasons as the anchor of a defense which ranked toughest against the run in three consecutive campaigns and second in another.

Those sure read like Pro Football Hall of Fame credentials for Vikings Legend Kevin Williams.

Mark Craig of The Star Tribune brought Williams' overlooked résumé for football immortality to the forefront Wednesday, less than a week after folk hero and teammate Jared Allen earned that distinction.

A detail we left out that ought to be paramount to an eventual enshrinement for Williams: Eighteen of the 22 defenders on the NFL's Team of the Decade for the 2000s already own a bronze Hall of Fame bust.

Craig shared the following:

Williams is one of four being excluded despite having five Associated Press first-team All-Pro selections that are exceeded by only one defender on that All-Decade Team: Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis (seven).

Four other defenders on that All-Decade Team — voted on by members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Selection Committee, including this reporter — can match Williams' five first-team All-Pro selections: linebackers Zach Thomas and Derrick Brooks and safeties Brian Dawkins and Ed Reed.

Brooks (2014) and Reed (2019) joined Lewis (2018) as easy first-ballot Hall of Fame selections. Dawkins (2018) reached Canton in his second year of eligibility, and Thomas (2023) made it in his ninth year of eligibility and fourth year as one of the 15 finalists that get discussed by the full board of selectors.

Let's address the other facts real quick: Williams glamorously played an unglamorous position, often doing dirty work for his teammates, such as Allen; Williams has a HOF Monitor score of 105.03 per Pro Football Reference, which is above the average HOF index and ninth-highest of all-time for his position.

And yet, Williams hasn't once been even a semifinalist for the most elite fraternity of football players.

"I think there's only two guys at my position who were 100-sack guys or close to it," he noted, referring to Warren Sapp's 96.5 and John Randle's 137.5 "But my numbers are better than a lot of guys in there."

Williams was the 9th overall draft pick in 2003 by Minnesota, hailing from Oklahoma State. He played the 2014 season with Seattle, which ended in a Super Bowl loss, and closed his career with New Orleans.

In a phone conversation with Craig while at his home in Mayflower, Arkansas, just outside of Little Rock, Williams explained he's hopeful to reach the HOF one day but isn't worried by what's out of his control.

"I think consistently winning your matchups, dominating guys is what matters, regardless of stats," said Williams, who hinted to Craig that an absence of Super Bowl wins may be hurting his case. "I might not have 100 sacks, but I pushed that pocket consistently and helped guys make a lot of plays on the edge."

Just take Allen's word: "Kevin was an absolute beast. He's got all the credentials. He should be in, too."

Read Craig's full article in support of Williams here.

Vikings defense earns Top 10 tackling grade

In Super Bowl LIX, Philadelphia doubled down on the age-old adage that defense wins championships.

On Sunday in New Orleans, the Eagles and Chiefs combined to convert just six of 23 third downs; star quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes netted fewer than 230 passing yards; neither starting running back led their team in rushing, and if not for the Chiefs piling up yardage against Eagles backups, both offenses would've finished with fewer than 5.0 yards per play. Offense was, in fact, an afterthought.

Because Philadelphia's defense swallowed the Chiefs offense from the onset.

Defense. Wins. Championships.

And a key component to that statement – drumroll, please, to welcome, "Captain Obvious" – is tackling.

We dove deep last week into Minnesota's performance this past season on defense (offense, too).

Our analysis, which focused on areas of strength and areas for improvement, was helped along by NFL Next Gen Stats and ideally conveyed how solid Brian Flores' group played for the vast majority of 2024.

Now, there's a positive addendum.

The mostly glowing recap was confirmed Wednesday via tackling grades from the NGS Analytics Team.

No surprise really: Minnesota definitely passed – but, of course, didn't ace the test.

The Vikings were awarded an 85.8 grade, good for ninth best in the NFL behind Kansas City (94.6), Denver (92.0), Pittsburgh (90.6), Detroit (88.8), Philadelphia (87.8), Green Bay (87.4) and Washington (86.8). Dallas, the lone non-playoff team in the Top 10 and the only one in the group with a losing record, was next (83.6).

Here's what the statheads said of Minnesota's "D," keying attention to a couple of feared leaders.

Though the Vikings defense experienced some ups and downs throughout the season, it was one of the league's better units in the end, with Minnesota ranking fifth in points allowed. Blake Cashman made an immediate impact upon joining the team in 2024, leading the Vikings with 111 tackles — the linebacker missed just nine tackles (7.5% of his opportunities). Safety Joshua Metellus followed closely with 103 tackles, though it should also be noted that Metellus' season-high five missed tackles came in the Vikings 31-29 loss to the Lions in Week 7, when Minnesota missed a season-worst 16 tackles collectively.

According to NGS the Vikings defense allowed 790 yards after missed tackles, the ninth-lowest amount in the league; safety Camryn Bynum happened to be the unit's only player to yield over 100, giving up 148.

Stats tend to be fungible, and different sites track them, well, differently. Pro Football Reference, for instance, attributed three missed tackles total to Metellus, and trusted analytics site Pro Football Focus had him down for five – and none in the narrow Week 7 defeat to Detroit. Still, each holds a significance.

And the generally strong performances, consistently meriting recognition, are always worth celebrating.

For the curious kittens out there, NGS said the following of the AFC champions: The Chiefs led the NFL in tackling efficiency (89.3%) this season, propelled by a 91.2% mark in Weeks 12-17, and they continued this trend into the playoffs, where they converted 90.9% of their tackle opportunities. In the regular season, Leo Chenal recorded more forced fumbles (three) than missed tackles (two). Of the Chiefs players to have 25-plus tackle opportunities, an astounding 10 converted at least 90.0% (Chenal, Mike Pennel, Michael Danna, Chris Jones, Nazeeh Johnson, Bryan Cook, Christian Roland-Wallace, Jaden Hicks, Joshua Williams and Trent McDuffie). That's two more such players than any other team had in 2024. Pending free agent Nick Bolton led Kansas City with 106 tackles, converting 86.9% of his attempts — though both marks were well below his career highs (180 tackles in 2022 and 95.7% tackle efficiency in 2021).

And, about Philadelphia: The Eagles in-season defensive improvement was key to their dominant Super Bowl run, and their tackling was a major factor. Through the first six weeks of 2024, their missed tackle rate (15.7%) was the second-highest in the NFL, and they had forced only one fumble. From Week 7 through the Super Bowl, they cut their missed tackle rate to 12.7% and forced a spectacular 23 fumbles, nine more than any other team. During that span, Zack Baun led the NFL with 131 tackles and six forced fumbles. The Eagles will surely prioritize re-signing Baun following his wildly successful one-year deal.

Keep in mind as 2025 free agency and the NFL Draft approach … defense wins championships!