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UW Fresh Start (No. 6): Williams Had Biggest Hit, Would Like Steady Job

The junior safety needs to take another step forward as a starter.
Dan Raley|
UW Fresh Start (No. 6): Williams Had Biggest Hit, Would Like Steady Job
UW Fresh Start (No. 6): Williams Had Biggest Hit, Would Like Steady Job

On first-and-goal at the 2, California's Damien Moore accepted a handoff and tried to score over the right side. 

He got a yard and a stomach full of Cam Williams.

The University of Washington safety hit Moore so hard the ball squirted out and the running back went down and didn't get back up right away.

Ryan Bowman recovered the fumble, turning the Huskies into 31-24 winners in overtime.

Williams had delivered the UW hit of the year. 

Trouble was, the 6-foot, 200-pound junior from Bakersfield, California, took as much punishment last season as he dealt out, his aches and pains relegating him to only seven game appearances and three starts.

Both of Williams' arms were injured when he blew up that Cal play at the goal line.

Kalen DeBoer and his staff will need to see if they can get a full season out of him, rather than fits and starts.

On the job for all of two months, DeBoer recently disclosed how limited video footage exists for some of the Husky players he inherited, making it difficult for the new head coach and his staff to adequately assess all of the returning talent up and down the roster.

Less than two months to spring practice, we're offering any insight we might have in a series of stories on every UW scholarship player from No. 0 to 99. We'll review each Husky's starting experience, if applicable, and provide a logical timeline for him in earning a future first-team assignment or simply retaining one.

As is the case with any coaching change, it's a new football start for everyone, including the Huskies' No. 6 on the defensive side.

Cam Williams has 10 starts in three seasons.

As a true freshman, Cam Williams intercepted two passes against USC.

Cam Williams brings down Utah's Zach Moss in 2020.

Bookie Radley-Hiles and Cam Willams knock an Oregon receiver down.

Williams is trying to reclaim or even exceed the football form that made him a seven-game starter as a true freshman. He intercepted two passes against USC and stole another off Hawaii. He battled Asa Turner to be the starter, beginning and ending the season with the No. 1 job.

However, the pandemic-shortened 2020 season did him no favors. Turner was the starter for all four games while Williams served as his backup.

This past fall, Williams played in the first five games, starting against Arkansas State and Oregon State. Yet he missed five of the last seven outings, drawing another start against Oregon. 

UW Starter or Not: As a Husky defensive back, Williams has either regressed or hit a plateau. DeBoer's coaches need to see if they can get him fully healthy and playing it forward. He's certainly qualified and talented enough to become a full-time starter for the UW over his last two seasons.

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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.

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