FAB 3. WILLIAMS IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE AT RUNNING BACK
If you aren’t a fan of Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon, I’ve got another Joe you might be interested in. In a deep, deep draft at the running back position thanks to 18 junior entries, including as Florida State’s Dalvin Cook, LSU’s Leonard Fournette, Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey, South Florida’s Marlon Mack, Clemson’s Wayne Gallman, Wyoming’s Brian Hood, Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine and Mixon among others, there is a very intriguing senior prospect – Utah’s Joe Williams.

Williams, who will be at next week’s East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg, Fla., is considered a late-round pick and perhaps even an undrafted free agent despite rushing for 1,407 yards and 10 touchdowns on 210 carries (6.7 avg.) in just nine games during his senior season. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Utah star committed the cardinal sin of organized team sports last year – he quit. That’s a bigger red flag than injuries or arrests when it comes to the NFL scouting process.

Williams’ love for the game and commitment level will certainly be thoroughly prodded and probed by NFL scouts in Tampa Bay and elsewhere to determine his draft grade. That starts next week in St. Petersburg.

Utah RB Joe Williams – Photo by: Getty Images

The reason why Williams was invited to the East-West Shrine Game is because his talent is undeniable. After preseason injuries and fumbles in the first two games of the season took their toll on Williams both physically and mentally. He was benched after two early season fumbles and he rushed for just a combined 75 yards on 22 carries (3.4 avg.) while catching four passes for only two yards, Williams announced his retirement from football.

“His body is just worn out,” Utah running back Kyle Whittingham told reporters after the announcement in early September. “It has nothing to do with playing time or any bad feelings, he’s leaving on good terms. I think you noticed in some games that he’s just not the same guy. He has some things that are really bothering him physically so he’s going to retire.”

Williams, who is 23, began his collegiate football career at Connecticut but was kicked off the team for buying a backpack with a stolen credit card. Utah running backs coach Dennis Erickson found Williams at a Brooklyn junior college where he rushed for 1,093 yards and seven touchdowns on 163 carries (6.7 avg.), and had 237 yards receiving and three touchdowns on 16 receptions in nine games.

In 2015, Williams was the backup to Devontae Booker, who was drafted in the fourth round this past year by Denver. He rushed for 477 yards and three touchdowns in 104 carries (4.6 avg.) and ended his junior season with 121 yards against UCLA, 187 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown against Colorado and 91 yards rushing and two touchdowns in Utah’s 35-28 win over BYU in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl.

But after a slow start to his senior season Williams quit. After watching the team go 3-1 in his absence, Williams was in the stands watching the Utes beat Arizona 36-23 when he saw Troy McCormick and Armand Shyne go down with season-ending injuries. Utah, which was 6-1 and poised for a great season, was down to a freshman running back and a walk-on.

Williams and his fiancée, Jasmine Jones, whom he met at junior college in Brooklyn and had joined him at Utah, knew what had to be done. After a month off from football, Williams called Whittingham and asked if he could return to the team.

After just four days of practice, Williams started the game at Oregon State and propelled Utah to a 19-14 win with 179 yards rushing and a touchdown on a career-high 34 carries (5.3 avg.). The next week at UCLA, Williams would set a Utah record with 332 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries (11.4 avg.) in the Utes’ 52-45 victory.

In a 31-24 loss to eventual Pac-12 champion Washington, Williams rushed for 172 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries (4.9 avg.). In a 49-26 win at Arizona State the next week, Williams dashed for 181 yards and two touchdowns, including one from 82 yards, on 15 carries (12.1 avg.). After rushing for 149 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries (6.5 avg.) in a 30-28 loss to Oregon, Colorado’s stingy defense finally held Williams under the century mark with 97 yards on 26 carries (3.6 avg.).

Williams fumbled twice in that game and the Buffaloes returned one for a touchdown. But this time, Williams didn’t let the fumbles or the pounding of averaging 27 carries per game get to him.

In Utah’s 26-24 win over Indiana in the Foster Farms Bowl, Williams was the Offensive MVP rushing for 222 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries (8.5 avg.) along with a 56-yard reception. With the Utes trailing 24-23 with 5:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, Williams produced 64 of Utah’s 68 yards on the drive to set up Andy Phillips’ game-winning 27-yard field goal with 1:24 left in regulation.

In his final seven games of the 2016 season, only Texas’ D’Onta Foreman, who ran for 2,028 yards in 2016, rushed for more yards than Williams did.

Last 7 Games Rushing Production In 2016
Texas RB D’Onta Foreman – 1,433 yards and 8 TDs
Utah RB Joe Williams – 1,332 yards and 10 TDs
Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey – 1,118 yards and 10 TDs
Florida State RB Dalvin Cook – 980 yards and 12 TDs
Boise State RB Jeremy McNichols – 934 yards and 12 TDs
Oklahoma RB Samaje Peine – 911 yards and 10 TDs
San Diego State RB Donnel Pumphrey – 887 yards and 4 TDs
Oklahoma RB Joe Mixon – 886 yards and 8 TDs
Wyoming RB Brian Hill – 850 yards and 11 TDs
LSU RB Leonard Fournette – 843 yards and 8 TDs

Williams was laser timed at 4.38 at Utah and could be one of the draft’s risers with a good showing in St. Petersburg next week where the Bucs will be in full force watching him and the scores of other NFL Draft prospects. But perhaps even more important than what he does on the field will be how Williams handles the off-field interviews with scouts and general managers.

“The NFL is like the FBI [now],” Erickson told FoxSports.com. “He’ll have to answer the question if it ever comes to that: ‘Why did you leave?’ He has to understand to play at that level, you have to be 100 percent in.

“I knew he was down a little bit at the beginning of the year. He fumbled a couple of times. Mentally, he was drained a little bit. Physically, he was not feeling very good.”

Williams fumbled the ball five times last year and twice in 2015. Ball security is an issue with him, although Foreman fumbled seven times and lost five, while Cook fumbled six times and lost four. NFL scouts will be observing his ball-handling skills closely at the East-West Shrine Game, but they’ll be watching to see if he fumbles the most important question about his commitment to football, which has to be renewed given how strongly he ended his senior season and his Utah career.

“Had I hit the century mark in both those [first] games, my decision would have been the same,” Williams told FoxSports.com. “I wouldn’t change anything. I would do it the exact same way.”

It sounds like Williams has already secured his answer for those NFL scouts.

With Doug Martin’s three-game suspension looming next year, Tampa Bay could use another running back with speed, and Williams could be a Day 3 gem for the Buccaneers if he shines as expected next week in St. Petersburg.