Kwan Williams: SI All American Scouting Report
John Garcia is the editor of SI All American, Sports Illustrated's site dedicated to football and basketball recruiting. For today's feature he gives a full scouting report on the newest commitment.
As Jeff Hafley put it after landing Kwan Williams on Wednesday, it was simply a "huge one" for Boston College on the recruiting trail. The Maryland native had been adding national offers as recently as this spring, but elected to end the process with BC as one of its banner commitments for the class of 2022. The defensive tackle talent had a dominant 2019 campaign, the last time Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh played varsity football due to the pandemic, and SI All-American takes a closer look.
Williams has a modern interior defender's build in the 6'2", 290-pound range and it helped him flash as a sophomore with 10 stops behind the line of scrimmage against stiff competition. As one would imagine, prep offensive linemen had an issue attempting to get the compact prospect off of his spot once the football was snapped, even as he commanded double teams on Friday nights. Williams is stourt, a natural leverage winner with increasing upper-body strength to begin to round out his game.
As a young player, Williams showed signs of an overall game that should begin to get BC fans excited. He is not only quick off of the snap, but he has heavy hands and uses them to his advantage. The underclassman showed a push-pull, swim, club and rip the last time he suited up and it pairs very well with his motor, even defeating double teams with power and extension at times. Williams is at his best when asked to occupy a gap and/or attack a blocker head on, where he doesn't give much ground, even on the occasions in which he is the smaller prospect.
Of course the early tape was solid and led to more than a dozen scholarship offers, but the sample has been incomplete and without an update in the last 15-plus months. As a wide-bodied run defender who can help on early downs in an even or odd-man front, Williams has room to improve his pass-rushing technique, lateral ability and fluidity. He appears to have managed his weight well since we last saw him on tape, a great sign many college programs have been alert to with prospects in the states without fall football in 2020.
Williams is one of the prospects we're most eager to get a fresh look at this spring and/or summer before he suits up as a senior, where the I-told-you-so expectation of his interior dominance will serve as a violent reminder of how important this March commitment was for the Eagles in an area where every Power 5 conference spends considerable time. Is he a two-down leverage monster or has he evolved into a stout run defender with pocket-pushing ability to challenge the passer from the 0, 1 or 3-technique alignment? Like BC and Eagle fans, we can't wait to find out.
