Inside The Huskies

Accolades Freeze for Demond Williams Jr. Begins to Thaw

The Husky quarterback seemed to be getting ignored after his aborted portal move.
Dan Raley|
Xe'ree Alexander and Demond Williams Jr. show off their MVP awards at the LA Bowl.
Xe'ree Alexander and Demond Williams Jr. show off their MVP awards at the LA Bowl. | Dave Sizer photo

In the month following Demond Williams Jr.'s aborted transfer portal attempt, it was almost as if people decided he needed to be punished.

They did this by excluding the University of Washington quarterback from various college football lists in which he probably should have been included.

After drawing all of those January headlines for considering to jump ship in Montlake, Williams sort of disappeared from view whenever anyone began listing the top players at his position or singling out best bets to win the Heisman Trophy.

All of a sudden, he didn't exist.

Right or wrong, it seemed a little extreme for a player possessing his skill set.

After all, someone actually tried to pry him loose from UW -- we're still guessing LSU -- by trumping whatever the Huskies were going to pay him.

Well, it appears the college football cold shoulder sent in Williams' direction has been lifted somewhat. Or it's getting warmer.

The Big Ten Huddle just called him a Heisman contender.

Someone named Chuck -- a single-name analyst, not Barkley or Jon Gruden's alter ego -- ranked Williams fourth among his top 15 quarterbacks nationally.

That's an accolades thaw.

No matter how anyone feels about his perceived loyalty, or lack of it, Williams' talent level hasn't waned any.

He still might be the fastest quarterback among all Power 4 schools.

So far, he's done everything projected for him at the UW except beat a favored team and that's likely going to happen soon with him leading a Husky team that's returning two-thirds of its starters from a 9-4 season.

Ask any opposing defensive coordinator what he thinks about trying to game-plan for Williams and his elite speed this coming fall, and you might see that person shudder.

These coaches know they will have to be extra diligent in plotting ways to keep this dual-threat player from running and passing themselves silly.

After all, this junior quarterback from Chandler, Arizona, is going to work behind the best offensive line he's had out of three during his time in Montlake.

To be fair, Willams probably needs to beat a Penn State or Iowa early on to really draw attention to himself.

Upset an Indiana or an Oregon, and people will go through the roof in trying to find nice things to say about him.

While Williams will have to earn high regard with results, the previous blackout for him with accolades seemed a little bit extreme.

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Football