After years of dropping the jaws of Washington fans with his electric style of play, Jimmy Williams is starting to open some eyes at East Carolina.
Starring as the Pam Pack’s quarterback in its midline option offense last year, Williams led the team into the third round of the playoffs for the first time since 1956 by throwing for 478 yards and five TDs and rushing for 1,003 yards and nine scores on just 84 carries en route to being named the Washington Daily News Offensive Player of the Year.
A gifted athlete, Williams agreed to walk-on to the Pirates football team this summer as a wide receiver and is beginning to catch on.
On Saturday, Williams caught a 14-yard touchdown pass and finished the second scrimmage of fall camp with two receptions for 24 yards.
With a bevvy of talented receivers on the Pirates roster, Williams knows he’s starting at the bottom of the ladder and the freshman said that his main focus right now is to become the best wide receiver he can be.
“My goal for camp is to just get better at receiver every day,” Williams said. “That just comes from practice. Every day you just got to get out here and make sure you run your routes hard. I focus real hard on my route running because that’s what I need the most. Catching the ball, I can do that, so I just want to work hard every day on my routes.”
East Carolina offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley has had a history of success with quarterbacks-turned-receivers and walk-ons that dates back to his time at Texas Tech and is hoping that Williams can be another success story.
“We’ve had a great history, not only at East Carolina but in this offense, of quarterbacks turned to receivers,” Riley said. “You look at (ECU players) Justin Hardy, Danny Webster and John Worthy and ’Tay Cooper (an RB). There are a lot of skill guys that played quarterback that have made that transition.
“At Tech we had Mickey Peters and (Michael) Crabtree and a bunch of guys who had that quarterback experience that have made the transition.”
Riley said he became confident about Williams’ ability to switch positions upon watching his game tapes.
“We knew (Williams) had a bunch of athletic ability from looking at the film and we were thrilled to get him here,” Riley said. “There’s some rawness there from not playing the position but he has a good sense for the game.
“He’s got to get polished but he understands what’s going on. He’s got a good feel for it and he’s very explosive after the catch.”
Last season wide receiver Justin Hardy, a former walk-on who starred at quarterback for West Craven, exploded on to the scene as he caught a team-high 88 passes for 1,105 yards and 11 TDs to earn Conference USA first-team honors.
Hardy’s 6-0, 186-pound frame and background compares favorably to the 6-1, 178-pound Williams, who said he uses the Pirates star as inspiration on a daily basis.
“Everyday I look at him and I’m like, ‘Well, look where he came from.’ He came from basically the same situation that I’m in. The same position and everything,” Williams said. “He goes out there and plays hard and he’s a great player. I see that as something that I can do.”
While the transition is a tough one, Williams’ quarterback experience has helped ease it.
“It really helps out a lot,” Williams said. “It’s easier to find the holes in the defense because I’ve played quarterback. I can see (from a QB’s perspective) even though I’m not playing that position because I know where the holes are at. It’s a little advantage.”
Riley agreed.
“I think it gives them a little bit of an extra sense,” Riley said. “They’ve seen the game from the other side. A lot of times, especially for our slot receivers, a lot of routes are by feel where they have to understand what the defense is doing and where the soft spots are and those kind of guys can do that.”
With the Pirates being loaded at the receiver spot Williams appears to be a prime redshirt and scout team candidate, but Riley said that with enough work he has the potential to compete for time next season.
“We would like to redshirt him. I think we have enough depth where we can,” Riley said. “He needs to develop in the weight room. He needs the development of learning to become a receiver, running the other team’s routes and all that throughout the year going against the first team defense and those DBs.
“Things happen, but I would think that he’s a guy that after a good season here and a good offseason that he could be a ready to challenge for playing time next year.”