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Recruit Dexter Williams has some freakish athleticism. He is one of the best players in Florida.
Dexter Williams is one of the best playmakers in the state of Florida and is receiving plenty of interest within (and outside of) the Sunshine State.
Williams attends Orlando (Fla.) West Orange High School (a recent transfer from Olympia HS), and is projected to play running back at the next level. He is listed at 6'0 and weighs in at 192 pounds.
Williams is considered a four-star prospect, given the designation by both 247sports and Scout. Rivals and ESPN have not yet rated the prospect. Scout considers him the 16th-best running back in the nation, while 247sports sees Williams as the fourth-best running back in the class and the 11th-best player in the state of Florida. The 247sports composite, which aggregates the ratings of all four major recruiting services, considers Williams a four-star and rates him as the 10th-best running back in the class and the 18th-best player in the state.
Williams claims offers from Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, South Carolina, USC, Miami and Notre Dame, among others.
Why is Williams so highly coveted by colleges? Posting a ridiculous Nike SPARQ score of 131.37 on a very slow track in Orlando (a score based on components like his 44.5-inch vertical leap, plus other speed and explosive testing) has something to do with it.
But how much of that great athleticism in drills shows up on the field? Let's take a look.
If Williams' play on the field perfectly matched his incredible testing numbers, he would be the unquestioned top running back in the state. And while it doesn't, his play on the field is not too shabby and Williams certainly has a case for being the best back in Florida.
The first thing that stands out about Williams on film is his explosion. He has the ability to stick his foot in the ground and explode out of his cut. The acceleration is also apparent, as he hits his top speed quite quickly.
Williams is an aggressive runner who does not dance all that much. He does have the ability to shake defenders, but seems to prefer using his speed to go around them. That's not to say Williams lacks toughness of physicality. He he has that, too. Williams will eventually be a 200-pound back, and he runs with good bend and lean, behind his pads when in traffic.
Williams does not catch the ball all that much on his highlight tape, but he did well catching it during the Orlando Nike Camp at which I observed him. There's no reason to doubt his catching ability in a game setting.
There is definitely some "Pop Warner" in Williams' game, as he looks to bounce a lot of plays to the outside as quickly as possible. Luckily for Williams, he has the ability to make this work a vast majority of the time in high school, but he will need to be more disciplined in college when it comes to sticking to the confines of the play. He definitely has the physical ability to perform nasty cutback runs, but must develop the feel and intuition to do so more frequently.
Williams is one of the best running backs in the 2015 class and is capable of being a multi-year starter at the highest level. I think he may be a better fit for the spread because he is very dangerous in space.