In a battle between the Dallas Cowboys' last two second-round picks, Connor Williams was able to get the better of Trysten Hill on multiple occasions during the compete period, where the team gathers around to watch specific one-on-one matchups.

On the first rep, the rookie defensive tackle was able to get some initial push on the Texas product; however, Williams displayed his improved anchor, as he stoned Hill before he could get in the vicinity of the quarterback:

Great job by Connor William's of releveraging his hands vs Trysten Hill pic.twitter.com/ZB0mqhu748 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) August 12, 2019

On this snap, Hill is aligned in an under tackle's alignment with an outside shade over Williams, who aligned at his usual left guard position. Once the ball was snapped, Williams took a short set against Hill, looking to land a thunderous blow on Hill's frame an impede the rookie's forward progress before it could get started.

To Hill's credit, he initiated a stab with his outside (right) arm and then sequenced into a powerful club move with his inside (left) hand. This put Hil in a good position to attack Williams' inside edge; however, the second-year guard did an outstanding job of recovering, attaining depth in his pass set and then cutting off the Central Florida product.

Moreover, Williams showed fantastic body control and advanced hand usage, as he was able to retract and re-leverage his hands onto Hill's frame. From there, Williams executed a short hop backward to put himself in position to fight pressure with pressure and anchor against Hill's power rush, preventing the defensive tackle from pushing Williams into the quarterback's lap.

On another rep, Williams once again displayed impressive hand technique as he was able to re-leverage his hands against Hill's counter club:

Connor Williams had his way with Trysten Hill in 1v1s. #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/dtyoLXzOBw — John Owning (@JohnOwning) August 12, 2019

On this rep, Williams once again short sets Hill as a means to inhibit the defensive tackle's forward momentum off the snap.

Once again, Williams' outside strike is countered by Hill, who uses another counter club move. Even though he's initially out of position, Williams displayed impressive foot speed to cut off Hill before he can flatten to the quarterback's position in the pocket.

After that, Williams does an excellent job of re-leveraging his hands, as he latched on to Hill's frame. From there, Williams is able to continue sliding his feet, walling off Hill and preventing him from applying pressure on the quarterback.

These are the types of plays that Williams would have struggled to defend last season. Because Williams possessed below-average play strength and couldn't trust his anchor as a result, it caused him to lean forward heavily when defending power, putting his weight over his toes in an attempt to put enough power behind his strikes to stymie a defensive tackle's power rush, which made it easy for defenders to beat him with counter moves.

This year, however, Williams's additional strength has given himself more confidence in his anchor, resulting in Williams being more balanced when executing his hand techniques. Thus putting himself in an optimal position to re-leverage his hands and slide his feet to cut off a defender's pass rush when countered.

Williams hasn't been perfect by any means during training camp, especially when pitted against Maliek Collins, but it's hard to not be impressed by the development from his rookie year. His two wins over Hill in one-on-ones are just the latest examples of the second-year guard's improvement.

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Twitter: @JohnOwning