Kevin Williams can do it all, and maybe even on offense

The national crusade to get Adrian Peterson the ball more was such a smashing success, perhaps it's now time to speak up on behalf of another Vikings top-10 draft pick with power, top-end speed at his position and a rare nose for the end zone.

"Kevin Williams? On offense?" said linebacker Chad Greenway, letting the thought sink in for a second. "He's a pretty good athlete, but I don't know if I'd throw him the ball consistently. But I suppose down on the goal line, he'd be tough to stop at tight end. Or maybe fullback."

Hey, why not?

Yeah, Williams is a 6-5, 311-pound defensive tackle. But last week's 18-yard interception return for a touchdown against San Francisco was the fourth touchdown of his five-year career.

Troy Williamson, a receiver, has three career touchdowns. And while tight end Visanthe Shiancoe is tied with Williams when it comes to career TDs, he trails 2-1 this season.

"Kevin's got four?" Shiancoe said. "What a ball hog."

Don't feel bad, Visanthe.

Former Vikings defensive tackle Alan Page, a Hall of Famer, now trails Williams 4-3 in career touchdowns. And Page played 15 seasons.

Hall of Fame tackle Merlin Olsen played 14 years, 13 of them as an All-Pro. He scored once. Hall of Fame tackle Joe Greene played 13 years, 11 of them as an All-Pro. He never scored.

Of the 12 Hall of Famers who spent their entire careers at defensive tackle, former Cowboy Bob Lilly is the only one to score as many touchdowns as Williams. Lilly played 14 years and returned three fumbles and one interception for touchdowns.

Williams has two interception returns for touchdowns in 13 games ... this season! He scored the first touchdown of the season on a 54-yard interception return in the 24-3 season-opening victory over Atlanta, and added last week's score only 14 seconds into a 27-7 win against the 49ers. Williams' other touchdowns are a 77-yard fumble return against Jacksonville in 2004 and a fumble recovery in the end zone against Seattle last year.

Isn't it time, Mr. Williams, to stand up and holler, "Give me the darn ball!"? After all, New England Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel has 10 touchdowns on 10 career receptions, two of them in a pair of Super Bowls.

"It'd be cool every now and then, but I don't sit back and dream about it," Williams said. "As long as we're winning games, I don't care who's catching the ball. They got enough artillery over there right now. They don't need me."

Tice tried it in practice

Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said the Brad Childress regime has never considered using Williams in short-yardage situations. But the previous staff under coach Mike Tice thought about it a lot back in 2004 and '05.

"About four or five weeks during those two years, we worked every Friday on short-yardage plays for me," Williams said. "Sometimes, they'd send me over the middle. Sometimes, they had me running to the back corner of the end zone. They were plays for when we got to the 1-yard line. But we never got to the 1-yard line in a game because we always scored on a lot of big plays back then."

So how'd he do as a practice-playing tight end?

"Never missed a ball," said backup tackle Spencer Johnson. "Never. Kevin's just a great athlete that got big."

"I think Kevin could play tight end; I think Kevin could play fullback; and I believe Kevin, with some practice, could be a great [offensive] left tackle," said Vikings defensive line coach Karl Dunbar, who also coached Williams in college. "He's unique. He's a former basketball player with really good ball skills. Great hand-eye coordination. And once he gets the ball in his hands, he knows what to do with it. I just think he revolutionizes playmaking ability at the [defensive tackle] position."

Williams has showed off that hand-eye coordination this season. Both of his interceptions came from near point-blank range. Against the 49ers, Trent Dilfer's pass smashed into Williams' facemask before Williams could get a handle on it.

"The ball bounces off his facemask and into the air, and on film you can see Kevin's eyes follow the ball the whole way," Shiancoe said. "Then he reaches out and grabs the ball way over to his side. And all that happened in a split second. There are wide receivers in this league who can't make that catch.

"So, yeah, I think he could play tight end. He could play running back. He could play quarterback. ... Well, maybe not quarterback."

A basketball background

Williams' interception last week also set a team record for career interceptions (four) and tied the team mark for career defensive touchdowns.

"I don't know what it is when it comes to catching the ball; probably my basketball background," said Williams, who was an all-state center in basketball at Fordyce High in Arkansas. "Maybe it's from my days of posting guys up and catching rebounds. I was good at that. ... And I've always been determined to get to the football and score. In high school, I had a game where I caught a touchdown pass, picked the ball off and ran it back for a touchdown, and blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown."

There's no question the defensive tackle position in the NFL is evolving. But even among a batch of better, faster athletes, Williams stands out. He leads all NFL defensive linemen with his two interceptions this season.

"You also have to factor in that teams didn't throw the ball as much way back when," Dunbar said. "Joe Greene might have been the greatest tackle ever. But when he played, teams either ran the ball or threw it deep.

"Nowadays, so many of us are playing the Tampa-2 defense. Well, the way you beat the Tampa-2 if you can't get the tight end down the middle of the field or the receivers down the side, is you throw to your checkdowns. But guys like Kevin have good enough eyes and are athletic enough that he can get to the ball on those checkdowns."

So why not put him on the other side of the ball and just throw him the ball?

"He's got the best hands of any defensive tackle I've ever seen," Vikings receiver Robert Ferguson said. "He could be our Mike Vrabel. No doubt about it."