Veteran Safety Cameron Williams Reportedly Will Redshirt for Huskies
In this story:
Safety Cameron Williams, conspicuously absent from the past two University of Washington football games, apparently will redshirt this season, which was first reported by the Seattle Times' Mike Vorel and confirmed elsewhere.
The defensive back is not on the Husky travel squad to Arizona State, according to a school official.
Williams was one of the handful of veteran players who had watched his playing time decrease in a big way following the coaching change from Jimmy Lake to Kalen DeBoer.
A year ago, Williams was a defensive hero for the UW after causing a game-ending fumble to preserve a 31-24 overtime victory over California at Husky Stadium.
Playing with a pair of injured hands, the 6-foot, 207-pound junior from Bakersfield, California, knocked the ball free from Bears' running back Damien Moore on a first-and-goal play from the UW 2 and teammate Ryan Bowman recovered to secure the win.
However, Williams played only against Kent State, Portland State and Michigan State this season, thus staying within the four-game limit to preserve his eligibility. He had a lone tackle in the second outing.
It hardly resembles the promising start to Williams' career, when he started the first six games as a true freshman, intercepted two passes and collected four tackles in a 28-14 victory over USC, and was the starter against Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl to finish the season.
He got beat out by fellow junior Asa Turner and played as a reserve in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season that lasted four games.
Last year, Williams appeared in seven games and started three as one of seven UW players who drew opening assignments at safety, which gave him 10 career starts.
Turner was injured following the first two games this season, but sophomore Kamren Fabiculanan moved over from the Hybrid husky spot to replace him, not Williams.
Interestingly enough, Williams in fall camp spoke about divisions in the Lake coaching staff that affected the players in the 2021 season and he seemed satisfied with the new coaches.
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.
Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com
Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @UWFanNation
