Avery Williamson

He completed all of the essential combine drills and finished third among all linebackers in the short shuttle, finished sixth in the 40-yard dash, tied for eighth in the bench press, ninth in the broad jump, and finished 11th in the three-cone drill.

Avery Milton Williamson (born March 9, 1992) is a former American football linebacker.

Williamson attended Milan High School in Milan, Tennessee, where he led his team to consecutive 14–1 records as a junior and senior (2008 & 2009), losing only in the state championship finals each year to Alcoa High School.

He recorded 125 tackles with one interception and also rushed for 416 yards and seven touchdowns.

He collected 119 tackles as a junior, including 21 for loss and set a Tennessee state championship game record with 22 tackles in the title contest.

He was named the Region Defensive Player of the Year as a junior and senior.

He was rated as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com.

Williamson attended the University of Kentucky from 2010 to 2013.

In 2010, he played in all 13 games as a true freshman, totaling 10 tackles and one pass break-up.

In 2011, he played in all 12 games, recording 49 tackles.

In 2012, he started all 12 games, finishing second in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with 135 tackles, which placed seventh nationally in total tackles.

He also recorded 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one interception and one fumble recovery.

In 2013, in his senior season, he recorded 102 tackles, including four for loss, one sack and two fumble recoveries, and was named a second-team All-SEC selection.

He was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL draft.

He played college football at Kentucky.

Williamson was selected to play in the 2014 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

Williamson was one of 35 collegiate linebackers to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana.

On March 14, 2014, Williamson attended Kentucky's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills for 20 team representatives and scouts from various NFL teams.

During the draft process, he attended a private visit with the Tennessee Titans and Washington Redskins.

At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Williamson was projected to be a fifth or sixth round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts.

He was ranked the eighth best inside linebacker prospect in the draft by Matt Miller of Bleacher Report and NFLDraftScout.com.

Miller also named Williamson the biggest sleeper amongst all inside linebackers in the draft.

The Tennessee Titans selected Williamson in the fifth round (151st overall) of the 2014 NFL draft.

He was the 18th linebacker selected in 2014.

May 21, 2014, the Titans signed Williamson to a four-year, $2.41 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $194,452.

Throughout training camp, Williamson competed for a roster spot and a role as a backup linebacker against Moise Fokou, Zaviar Gooden, Colin McCarthy, Patrick Bailey and Brandon Copeland.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt named Williamson the backup inside linebacker behind starters Wesley Woodyard, Zach Brown, and Zaviar Gooden to begin the regular season.

He made his professional regular season debut in the Titans' season-opening 26–10 victory at the Kansas City Chiefs.

After being relegated to special teams for the first two weeks, Williams was promoted to the reserve inside linebacker on the defense after starter Zach Brown suffered a torn pectoral in the season-opener.

In Week 3, he recorded his first career tackle and made four combined tackles on 13 defensive snaps as the Titans were routed by the Cincinnati Bengals 33–7.

On October 5, 2014, Williamson earned his first career start after surpassing Zaviar Gooden on the depth chart.

He made seven combined tackles and two pass deflections in a 29–28 loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 5.

In Week 8, Williamson made a season-high ten combined tackles, broke up a pass, and recorded his first career sack on quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick as the Titans were defeated by the Houston Texans 30–16.

On November 17, 2014, Williamson recorded eight combined tackles and sacked Ben Roethlisberger twice during a 27–24 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It marked Williamson's first game with multiple sacks.

He finished his rookie season in 2014 with 79 combined tackles (51 solo), four pass deflections, and three sacks in 16 games and 12 starts.

After finishing the 2014 season with a 2–14 record, head coach Ken Whisenhunt hired Dick LeBeau as the assistant head coach and as the co-defensive coordinator with Ray Horton.

Williamson remained as the starting inside linebacker entering camp although Zach Brown returned from injury.

He was named the starter, along with Zach Brown and outside linebackers Derrick Morgan and Brian Orakpo, to begin the regular season.

On October 11, 2015, Williamson recorded nine combined tackles and made his first sack of the season on Tyrod Taylor during a 14–13 loss to the Buffalo Bills.