02-19-2024, 03:45 PM
Four dimensional analysis on Williams:
Services: On3 industry #428 (#30 interior OL), 247 composite #439 (#26 interior OL), On3 #30 interior OL, 247 #26 interior OL, Rivals #14 OG (5.7 grade, same grade as Charlie Hoitink, Ziron Brown, Zak Yamauchi, Kenji Swanson, James Pogorelc, Jake Hornibrook, Trey Stratford, Jack Dreyer, AT Hall, Thomas Oser, Cameron Fleming, David Yankey, Cole Underwood, Khalil Wilkes, Kevin Danser, Jonathan Martin, David DeCastro), ESPN NR
Offers: Stanford, Michigan, Penn State, Boston College, Cal, Cincinnati, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Pitt, Rutgers, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin
Production: It's always very difficult to cite "production" for OL recruits and even harder when the team doesn't report stats that I would otherwise use to try to at least glean insights on style of play, offensive effectiveness, and so forth. All I can really say is that junior year Williams played bottom 37 percent of Stanford recruit competition, sophomore year he played bottom 36 percent of competition, and his freshman year he played bottom 16 percent of competition. His calling card as a recruit is his athleticism, or at least so people say because of surprisingly competing in sprinting events as a 300 pounder. He had a 5.1 40 at a Penn State camp and has claimed a 12.8 and 13 second 100, though those aren't on verified sites. What I do see verified is a 42' 3.25" shot put (low end by our recruits' standards but he has half of his high school track career ahead of him) and a 27.22 200 (off the charts uncompetitive but again it's a 300 pounder clocking these as an underclassman).
Highlights: Williams' freshman and sophomore highlights are full season reels, saving me the time (but also the insight) of breaking down individual game film. Alas, there was an error loading both files on Hudl so I can't even watch those. The majority of the junior highlights were run blocking plays using his athleticism to get to the second level, though there is some blocking defensive linemen as well as some good pass blocking, with the tape claiming Williams did not get beat in pass protection his entire junior year. The first game of junior year was the main tape I was interested in as it was against Imhotep Charter, an undefeated nationally notable team (#69 in the nation according to Maxpreps) which featured major opposition for Williams to square off against. Williams' highlights show a run block of Pitt DL Jahsear Whittington (on a play that got blown up and Williams got a bit bulldozed backward but at least fought Whittington off away from the ballcarrier), a pass block of Ohio State whale edge commit Zahir Mathis, another run block on Whittington (this one kind of battling Whittington where they stood and effectively sealing Whittington off from getting near the ballcarrier), a run block on Mathis that was effective enough to prevent Mathis from setting the edge as the back got around him, another run block on Mathis pushing Mathis back enough to allow a six yard or so run behind Williams, and a pass block against Mathis (though a quick release by the QB so not a long clip). Whittington's highlights had one of the most insanely cool pick sixes I've ever seen from a DL at any level but Williams was a bit player in that play, as well as a sack by Whittington where Williams and a teammate were double-teaming Mathis and Whittington was able to work through the middle of the line to chase the QB back for a massive sack. The most negative play for our guy on Whittington's tape was a run block where he and a teammate gave Whittington a pop but did not stay engaged and Whittington bulled forward to bring the back down for a tackle for loss. Mathis' highlights show a tackle for short or no gain where he came around the edge on a play where Williams tried to block inside instead of taking Mathis on and a QB hurry stunting around Williams (Mathis glanced the QB and then the second defender, who was Williams' man initially on the play, to get to the QB had a strip sack....kind of exposes the idea Williams never got beat as a junior as a fib), and then a few plays abusing other guys. As for other games, Malvern Prep is one of the best teams in Pennsylvania and that game had some good examples of getting to the second level and of holding up in pass blocking, including a few plays against a guy with Boston College and Duke offers, Bernard Blakey. Blakely's highlights didn't square off too prominently against Williams, so that's a decent sign.
This is a good day for Stanford recruiting. OL is arguably our biggest need for the 2025 class and Williams looks like a good recruit for us by all four dimensions above. He is, at the moment, our highest ranked OL commit in a few years (have to go back to Fisher Anderson and Lucas Heyer). Beating out numerous good programs is something Taylor has done exceedingly little of so far in recruiting, and Williams had offers from 4-5 of the top 25 most talented teams in the country (Penn State, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri, plus On3 says Texas A&M offered), not to mention solid programs Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Kentucky. The track pedigree and film show a guy who is highly athletic for a 300 pounder. He's played a mix of right tackle and left tackle in high school but most seem to project him as a guard, and I would think he has work to do on technique (and I don't think will be able to get away with second level blocking as his calling card in the ACC, so he's going to have to get stout at the point of attack). In the big picture, he fits broadly with Hoitink, Ziron Brown, and Yamauchi as very credible reinforcements coming for the interior OL, though the distinction between interior and tackle can be fluid and very dependent on who else is around (i.e., perhaps Williams could be needed at tackle). I'd feel better if we had OL coaches who had proven anything, as these guys are an echelon of recruit that is a real crap shoot, or if we were getting some clearly stud OL recruits. It is very odd and disturbing to me that Stanford has not been able to get an elite OL recruit for over five years (1,867 days and counting since Hinton committed). But as long as we are going to toil in the football wilderness guys like Williams are going to be among the most important guys we get in a given year. He also seems like an obvious case of a guy who may be viewed as an extremely high 3-star by conventional wisdom but in our coaches' eyes actually is elite. They may or may not be right about that but the pipeline got better today.
Services: On3 industry #428 (#30 interior OL), 247 composite #439 (#26 interior OL), On3 #30 interior OL, 247 #26 interior OL, Rivals #14 OG (5.7 grade, same grade as Charlie Hoitink, Ziron Brown, Zak Yamauchi, Kenji Swanson, James Pogorelc, Jake Hornibrook, Trey Stratford, Jack Dreyer, AT Hall, Thomas Oser, Cameron Fleming, David Yankey, Cole Underwood, Khalil Wilkes, Kevin Danser, Jonathan Martin, David DeCastro), ESPN NR
Offers: Stanford, Michigan, Penn State, Boston College, Cal, Cincinnati, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Pitt, Rutgers, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin
Production: It's always very difficult to cite "production" for OL recruits and even harder when the team doesn't report stats that I would otherwise use to try to at least glean insights on style of play, offensive effectiveness, and so forth. All I can really say is that junior year Williams played bottom 37 percent of Stanford recruit competition, sophomore year he played bottom 36 percent of competition, and his freshman year he played bottom 16 percent of competition. His calling card as a recruit is his athleticism, or at least so people say because of surprisingly competing in sprinting events as a 300 pounder. He had a 5.1 40 at a Penn State camp and has claimed a 12.8 and 13 second 100, though those aren't on verified sites. What I do see verified is a 42' 3.25" shot put (low end by our recruits' standards but he has half of his high school track career ahead of him) and a 27.22 200 (off the charts uncompetitive but again it's a 300 pounder clocking these as an underclassman).
Highlights: Williams' freshman and sophomore highlights are full season reels, saving me the time (but also the insight) of breaking down individual game film. Alas, there was an error loading both files on Hudl so I can't even watch those. The majority of the junior highlights were run blocking plays using his athleticism to get to the second level, though there is some blocking defensive linemen as well as some good pass blocking, with the tape claiming Williams did not get beat in pass protection his entire junior year. The first game of junior year was the main tape I was interested in as it was against Imhotep Charter, an undefeated nationally notable team (#69 in the nation according to Maxpreps) which featured major opposition for Williams to square off against. Williams' highlights show a run block of Pitt DL Jahsear Whittington (on a play that got blown up and Williams got a bit bulldozed backward but at least fought Whittington off away from the ballcarrier), a pass block of Ohio State whale edge commit Zahir Mathis, another run block on Whittington (this one kind of battling Whittington where they stood and effectively sealing Whittington off from getting near the ballcarrier), a run block on Mathis that was effective enough to prevent Mathis from setting the edge as the back got around him, another run block on Mathis pushing Mathis back enough to allow a six yard or so run behind Williams, and a pass block against Mathis (though a quick release by the QB so not a long clip). Whittington's highlights had one of the most insanely cool pick sixes I've ever seen from a DL at any level but Williams was a bit player in that play, as well as a sack by Whittington where Williams and a teammate were double-teaming Mathis and Whittington was able to work through the middle of the line to chase the QB back for a massive sack. The most negative play for our guy on Whittington's tape was a run block where he and a teammate gave Whittington a pop but did not stay engaged and Whittington bulled forward to bring the back down for a tackle for loss. Mathis' highlights show a tackle for short or no gain where he came around the edge on a play where Williams tried to block inside instead of taking Mathis on and a QB hurry stunting around Williams (Mathis glanced the QB and then the second defender, who was Williams' man initially on the play, to get to the QB had a strip sack....kind of exposes the idea Williams never got beat as a junior as a fib), and then a few plays abusing other guys. As for other games, Malvern Prep is one of the best teams in Pennsylvania and that game had some good examples of getting to the second level and of holding up in pass blocking, including a few plays against a guy with Boston College and Duke offers, Bernard Blakey. Blakely's highlights didn't square off too prominently against Williams, so that's a decent sign.
This is a good day for Stanford recruiting. OL is arguably our biggest need for the 2025 class and Williams looks like a good recruit for us by all four dimensions above. He is, at the moment, our highest ranked OL commit in a few years (have to go back to Fisher Anderson and Lucas Heyer). Beating out numerous good programs is something Taylor has done exceedingly little of so far in recruiting, and Williams had offers from 4-5 of the top 25 most talented teams in the country (Penn State, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri, plus On3 says Texas A&M offered), not to mention solid programs Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Kentucky. The track pedigree and film show a guy who is highly athletic for a 300 pounder. He's played a mix of right tackle and left tackle in high school but most seem to project him as a guard, and I would think he has work to do on technique (and I don't think will be able to get away with second level blocking as his calling card in the ACC, so he's going to have to get stout at the point of attack). In the big picture, he fits broadly with Hoitink, Ziron Brown, and Yamauchi as very credible reinforcements coming for the interior OL, though the distinction between interior and tackle can be fluid and very dependent on who else is around (i.e., perhaps Williams could be needed at tackle). I'd feel better if we had OL coaches who had proven anything, as these guys are an echelon of recruit that is a real crap shoot, or if we were getting some clearly stud OL recruits. It is very odd and disturbing to me that Stanford has not been able to get an elite OL recruit for over five years (1,867 days and counting since Hinton committed). But as long as we are going to toil in the football wilderness guys like Williams are going to be among the most important guys we get in a given year. He also seems like an obvious case of a guy who may be viewed as an extremely high 3-star by conventional wisdom but in our coaches' eyes actually is elite. They may or may not be right about that but the pipeline got better today.