Recruiting ROI, No. 4: Trent Williams
Every Tuesday and Thursday, SI Sooners unveils a new installment in the Recruiting ROI series. Over the course of 10 weeks, the series examines 20 Sooners over the last 20 years who dramatically exceeded expectations in the crimson and cream.
When challenged to name an active Oklahoma alum with seven Pro Bowl appearances, many Sooner fans would likely guess Adrian Peterson.
And they'd be correct.
But he's not the only one.
There's one other Sooner whose professional resume rivals that of Peterson's, which is quite a feat considering that Peterson is arguably the greatest skill-position player of this era.
While Peterson makes his living in the open field, Trent Williams does his work in the trenches. It's not a sexy job, and it often goes under-appreciated. But over the course of ten NFL seasons, Williams has quietly fashioned a career that certainly appears worthy of a Hall of Fame candidacy.
Come the 2020 season, Williams will make his debut in a San Francisco 49ers uniform after spending a decade with the Washington Redskins. He was the fourth overall selection in the 2010 NFL draft, which famously saw three Sooners (Sam Bradford, Gerald McCoy, and Williams) taken among the first four picks.
But before the draft-day fame, before the the seven Pro Bowls, and long before the $66 million contract that made him the highest-paid tackle in the NFL, Williams was just another faceless pawn among the Sooners' deep reserve of offensive linemen. Few would have expected him to become a starter as a true freshman for Bob Stoops, and virtually no one would have foreseen his stardom in the NFL.
Williams came to Norman as a three-star recruit out of Longview, TX, choosing Oklahoma over offers from LSU, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, TCU and Texas Tech. However, his commitment didn't exactly shake the ground, as the Sooners scored a wealth of elite offensive linemen in Williams' 2006 class. They landed junior-college transfers Brandon Walker and Sherrone Moore, and snagged two top-300 tackles in Cory Brandon and Curtis Bailey. Thus, Williams walked into training camp in the fall of 2006 as far down the depth chart as possible.
But it didn't stay that way for long.
Williams fought tooth and nail to claw his way up the pecking order, and when Branndon Braxton went down with an injury in October, Williams earned his shot at right tackle. He started the season's final six games, then split starting duties with Braxton as a sophomore in 2007.
As the fabled 2008 Sooners rampaged through the Big 12 en route to a national championship berth, Williams helped ensure that Sam Bradford had plenty of time to dissect opposing secondaries. Opposite another future NFL tackle in Phil Loadholt, Williams anchored an Oklahoma line that surrendered just eleven sacks in 476 pass attempts. He earned all-conference honors, and would have likely been a mid-round NFL draft pick had he jumped ship after his junior season. However, Williams chose to play a fourth year for the Sooners, and showed up on just about every Outland Trophy watch list in the nation heading into the 2009 season.
Oklahoma scuffled to an 8-5 record in Williams' senior year, but he continued to perform at an elite level. He earned all-conference recognition for the second straight year, and became a unanimous All-American. Williams' final collegiate game, a Sun Bowl victory over Stanford, stands as an undying testament to his versatility. Recruited as a guard and trained as a tackle, Williams played center in the 31-27 triumph.
It didn't take long for Williams to establish himself as one of the NFL's finest linemen. However, he missed the entire 2019 season, a consequence of a medical dispute with the Washington franchise. It snapped his run of seven consecutive Pro Bowl seasons, but he's gearing up for a fresh start with the defending NFC champion 49ers.
He'll likely have his share of doubters after a full year away from the game, but if his meteoric rise to Sooner glory is any indication, Williams certainly won't be deterred.
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