Futures: Baylor WR Terrance Williams


Baylor WR Kendall Wright is one of the top 2012 NFL Draft prospects at his position. However, college wide receivers tend to have a lot of little skills to master in order for their skills to translate to great pro production. Wright is no exception.
Terrance Williams broke Kendall Wright’s single season yardage record this year. See why I like his progression as an NFL prospect in my latest Futures column.

I like progress. Especially when that development is happening within a human being. With its high concentration of players to cover within a compressed period of practice time, one of the things sometimes lost in all-star game practice reports is the overarching performance that spans several days.

If there was a player who showed progress at the 2013 Senior Bowl it was Baylor wide receiver Terrance Williams. I didn’t see the first day of the South Team’s practice — it’s the one day where both rosters practice at different facilities on the same day — but based on the receiver’s performance and the praise Lions wide receivers coach Tim Lappanowas dishing his way in each drill, it was clear that Williams was one of the most improved players between Monday and Wednesday. If you had only seen reports about him after Tuesday’s practice, you would have concluded that he was having an inconsistent week.

Inconsistency plus sustained effort is the formula of an ugly process that leads to a beautiful result: personal growth. Williams’ growth as a player hasn’t been isolated to a few days of a college all-star game practice in late January. The Baylor star has demonstrated improvement with his game since I watched him last year.

With prototypical height and weight, the ability to catch the ball with his hands, and big-play ability in the vertical passing game and as an open-field runner, Williams is already considered one of the better wide receiver prospects in this draft class. But Williams’ development is an encouraging sign for the team that selects him in April. Here are four plays that illustrate the changes to Williams’ game. Some of these improvements are a greater consistency of execution compared to years past. I’m taking these examples from his performance in Baylor’s 52-45 overtime victory over Texas Tech in late November. Read the rest at Football Outsiders.


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