Jonah Williams got his "welcome to Division 1 football" moment rather quickly at Weber State. In the first contact practice of spring ball in 2016, Williams, an undersized freshman defensive lineman, went against a guard and tackle during the pod drill. On the whistle, Williams got off the ball and hit the crease in between the two offensive linemen with his shoulder. He immediately felt his shoulder separate and pop back into place. As he walked toward the sideline with one hand holding up his arm, his defensive line coach approached and said, “In college football, we use our hands, not our shoulders.”
Williams was understandably a bit rusty. He signed with Weber State in 2013, but for the next two years served an LDS Church mission in Brazil. Williams arrived at Weber State in January 2016 as a 6-foot-5, 240-pounder with little playing experience. After four seasons, Williams left Weber State at 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, a HERO Sports First Team All-American, the Big Sky Conference's Defensive MVP, and a projected NFL Draft pick.
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Playing professionally is typically a dream for any young football player. But in high school, Williams didn't even think playing college football was a possibility. He moved from Washington to Idaho in the middle of his sophomore year, then moved again after that year. Williams didn't see a lot of playing time in his junior season and was undersized at 6-foot and 190 pounds.
Then the growth spurt hit.
Williams entered his senior season at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds. By the time his senior school year was done, he was 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds and carrying a full-ride scholarship from Weber State. Utah State and Boise State also showed interest but backed off after Williams told them his plan to serve a mission.
He committed to Weber State and then signed in 2013. During the two years Williams was in Brazil, the Wildcats went 2-10 in 2014, Jay Hill's first season as head coach, and 6-5 in 2015. The next season, Williams was a part of Weber State's first playoff appearance since 2009 as the Wildcats finished 7-5. In Williams' final three seasons, the team went 11-3, 10-3 and 11-3, respectively.
“I was really fortunate to go right into Jay Hill’s control of it," Williams told HERO Sports. "In that first season, we went 7-5. Then it was quarterfinals, quarterfinals, semifinals. It was great to be with Coach Hill and I don’t regret a thing. It was awesome."
Even with a rusty start to his first padded spring practice, Williams was ready to go when the 2016 season rolled around. With eight months between his campus arrival and the first game, Williams put his playing weight back on. He started all 12 games that season and was named a HERO Sports Freshman All-American.
The next season saw 12 more starts and All-Big Sky Second Team honors. As a junior in 2018, Williams was an All-Conference First Team selection, and as a senior in 2019, he earned All-American honors and the conference defensive MVP award.
SACK!
Huge sack by Jonah Williams for a 12-yard loss!#WeAreWeber #BigSkyFB #PurpleReign pic.twitter.com/1oxfYr9BD3
— Weber State Football ???? (@weberstatefb) November 9, 2019
He finished his career with 194 tackles, 28 tackles for loss and 15 sacks.
"When I was starting to play football that spring at Weber, I started looking at J.J. Watt and Joey Bosa and their size and weight coming out of college and getting drafted," Williams said. "At the time, I didn’t think [getting drafted] was an opportunity, but I wanted to be their size and then maybe one day it could happen. I just wanted to maximize my opportunities at Weber State. I came in at 240 and got up to 270. I just started watching the best of the best and learned from them.”
The scouts took notice of Williams' size and athleticism, his ability to defend the run and get after the quarterback. He was invited to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and followed that up with eight weeks of training for an anticipated Pro Day, which got canceled as the spread of the coronavirus disrupted the NFL Draft process.
Williams and his agent decided to film a Pro Day and send it to scouts. His numbers wowed:
Best private Pro Day by a DL this year done at @stroformance
Jonah Williams of @weberstatefb
6-5, 281
30 x 225
35 vert
9-7 broad
4.69 and 4.67 laser-timed 40
4.21 and 4.14 shuttle (laser)
6.77 and 6.71 3 cone (laser) pic.twitter.com/V95mYZR4yd— Evan Brennan (@EvanTheAgent) March 27, 2020
Here's how those numbers stack up against all of the EDGE and defensive line prospects at the NFL Combine:
- 40 – Top 3
- Bench – Top 5
- Vertical – Top 3
- Shuttle – No. 1
- 3-Cone – No. 1
Interest has picked up from NFL teams and scouts. Draft Scout projects Williams as a seventh-round draft pick. And The Athletic's Dane Brugler has Williams going in the seventh round in his mock draft.
Williams, who will turn 25 in August, has had several "visits" with teams. With the NFL prohibiting on-site visits, teams are doing all of their examinations and screening of prospects on the phone.
"I think the NFL is scrambling a little bit too," Williams said. "Their procedure for doing this has altered. Now they’re doing FaceTime calls and they’re documenting those as if we’re doing visits. So I’ve been doing FaceTime calls and talking to the scouts over the phone. The other thing that I think is making it hard is they like to get you out to their facilities to do their medical examinations and have their own doctors check you out. I’m having medical personnel calling me and doing that over the phone. It’s easy for me to do, but I think it worries them because they’re just going off of my word about and what [injuries] I’ve been through.”
Williams noted that while teams can obtain medical history from college programs, such as surgeries, things like nagging injuries which can be found by team doctors during on-site examinations now aren't as easily discoverable.
For Williams, he's noticed conversations with teams have been more about medical history and about who he is, rather than football-related matters, which is a good sign for Williams because it shows they trust his film. Williams gets asked about his parents, where he grew up and what his backstory is.
It's been a whirlwind process, and one he didn't think he'd be in just a few years ago. In Williams' case, it makes his situation a lot less stressful.
“I think there’s a lot of things that someone can worry about, like if you’re going to make it and how you’re going to make it," Williams said. "At least for me, I just think about the things that I can control and let those things work out themselves. If I get drafted or not, or if I get a spot on a team, I’ll make the best use of it and control what I can control now.”
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