Dan Orlovsky drew the ire of Patriots fans with his often over-the-top campaign for Matthew Stafford — his former teammate with the Detroit Lions from 2014-16 — during the peak of last year’s MVP race.
The longtime analyst for ESPN may have gone full Lloyd Christmas and totally redeemed himself with his recent breakdown of Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams for NFL Live.
Through five games, it’s been hard to notice Williams without the all-22. New England’s top defensive tackle hasn’t yet recorded a sack or tackle for loss on the season. He currently ranks 12th on the team in solo tackles — one spot behind Christian Gonzalez, who has played two fewer games.
But as Orlovsky discussed this week, Williams’ elite technique has been wrecking opponent run games in a fashion that hasn’t shown up in the box score.
“Milton Williams needs to be included in the dominant defensive tackle category if he’s not right now,” Orlovsky said. “His movement literally wrecks plays for this defense. … Just that subtle movement and the way he can get skinny — it destroys run games. And you don’t know where he’s gonna be from an offensive perspective.”
Milton Williams the best DT in ball?@Patriots @MikeReiss #nfllive pic.twitter.com/go46xDPXMO
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) October 15, 2026
Milton Williams' impact on the Patriots defense goes well beyond sacks and tackles
That’s good eating right there for Patriots fans.
It’s also comforting, considering Williams himself vowed to be better after the Patriots’ blowout loss in Jacksonville a couple weeks ago.
“Is there somebody y’all want to blame? Look at me. Blame me," he told reporters.
Williams appears to be back to being the game-changer the team needs him to be. He's ranked among the team's best defensive players per Pro Football Focus' grading metrics.
Williams has 12 quarterback pressures and is tied for the team lead with 10 hurries on the season, per PFF. He’s played 206 snaps in five games, which ranks sixth among the Patriots’ defensive players.
What Orlovsky’s analysis proves beyond Williams’ perceived lack of production is the myth that Vrabel’s troubled offseason doesn’t have him as dialed in.
New England played some ugly football as a whole over the first month of the season, but the defense has turned it up a notch since holding Josh Allen to 4 rushing yards on five attempts in a 29-26 win in Week 4. Vrabel's fingerprints are all over the turnaround.
The Patriots enter their Week 6 home game against the Jets allowing 1.74 points per drive, which ranks fourth in the NFL, per Sharp Football Analysis. They’re also fourth in opponent plays per game at 57.2, which shows how difficult it is to sustain drives against Vrabel’s group.
As expected, Williams has been right at the heart of that success, even if his game log has often left him out of the conversation.
Orlovsky might not be many Patriots fans’ go-to analyst, but his stuff on Williams shows all the little things that have made this team so dominant over its current 17-5 run in the regular season.
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