Commanders Film Room: Why Antonio Williams Is the Ultimate Slot Weapon

Currently, the Washington Commanders do not have another player on their roster with the skill set to do what Antonio Williams does from the slot. At just a shade over 5-11, analysts have already written a narrative on the former Clemson receiver that revolves around his size. The problem is, a quick trip to his college film (not highlights, film), and you instantly see a guy who knows how to manipulate space. That said, let's just hop right into the film.

Play 1: Erasing the Cushion

Clemson WR Antonio Williams gets set up pre-play. (film review) | HTTR4LIFE LLC (screenshot)

Right out of the gate, you can see the defense is running a split safety set with the lower safety in the screenshot matched up with Williams. That separation you see before the play only grows as right before the ball is snapped, that safety starts to dive even deeper. When you have the footwork that Williams has, defensive backs are going to back off out of fear of getting turned around or simply beaten in the open field. By the time the ball is hiked, and Williams hits the 20-yard line, the safety is all the way back at the 37-yard line.

By the time Williams hits the 25, he's already inside and then behind the linebacker, who watches as he blows right by. At that point, the upper safety has bled up too far with his eyes on the left side of the play, while the lower safety in the screenshot has backed all the way to the 42-yard line. Williams already has his space sectioned out for him, and the lower safety is stuck, not knowing whether to break to the center of the field or stay on the inside of that hash to respect the sideline.

Now at the Clemson 48, the lower safety is just starting to react to Williams, who is now completely behind both the linebacker and the upper safety, unbeknownst to them.

Williams releases across the middle section of the field, the Cade Klubnik pass hits his hands at the Duke 45-yard line, and then he runs to the Duke 41 at the hashmark like it's the bullseye on a dartboard. Before turning on the burners and making it to the 14-yard line, the lower safety was finally able to make the tackle.

The entire play was made possible because the defense was aware of his ability to move/shift in the open field. He may not be the fastest guy in the group, but he ran a 4.41 forty-yard dash at the combine. Which means, in small spaces, he's plenty quick and can cross up and burn defensive backs, hence the cushion of respect he was given on this play.

You can watch the full rep above; you'll see him split the soft spot in the secondary with ease and grab that pass like it was nothing on the way to a 64-yard gain that set up the next clip a few plays later.

Play 2: Perimeter Vision on the Ground

Antonio Williams runs the ball in for a touchdown against Duke. | HTTR4LIFE LLC

On this second series, a few plays later from the first play, Clemson has the ball at the five-yard line.

Antonio Williams runs the ball in for a touchdown against Duke. | HTTR4LIFE LLC

From the static picture above: right before the ball is hiked, Antonio Williams goes into motion, and the quarterback hikes the ball, turns towards Williams, and hands it off to him, heading to the left side with two blockers already waiting for him. The safety over the top sees the play developing very clearly and is positioning himself to run even with Williams, but still in the end zone at this point.

Williams proves that he can run with the ball and uses blockers effectively at the same time. In this screenshot, he envisions the cuts in between his two blockers as the safety continues to track him moving across the lower section of the field.

As that safety hits about the 2-yard line, he decides to dive at him and grabs as side and ankles right as he hits paydirt. What makes this play even better? Count the number of defenders in the area of the ball. There are five defenders within 5 yards of two blockers and Williams.

Check out the full play above, and you can truly appreciate the physical vision he possesses with the ball in his hands.

Play 3: Slipped in Uncovered

The last play is from later in the game and features Antonio Williams lined up on the right side, tucked in at the end of the offensive line, while the offense is in pistol formation (not sure the play).

Antonio Williams scores his second touchdown against Duke. | HTTR4LIFE LLC

The play lines up with what appears to be stacked coverage over Williams lined up with two guys over him on the edge, one safety to the right and a linebacker even with him.

Antonio Williams scores his second touchdown against Duke. | HTTR4LIFE LLC

As the play starts, the Clemson quarterback gives a perfect little playaction fake to the running back. Williams makes slight contact with one of the edge guys, cuts the two of them.

After finishing cutting between the two edge guys, they continue towards the quarterback, not falling for the play action and not caring about Williams or the running back running off to the flat on the right. At the same time on the back end of play, both the Duke linebacker and safety chose to head to the flats to cover the running back, leaving Williams completely forgotten and wide open in the endzone for a score.

The defense clearly lost track of Williams, and it cost them. He's slippery like that, pushing between two rushers, and somehow the next level missed him completely and bit the trickery of the play action.

You can watch the full clip above, but I would say this one is a classic case of too many defenders looking for the run, and Williams slipped in uncovered.

The Tape Room Verdict

It's clear to see why Adam Peters envisions Williams as part of his foundational rebuild when you take a second and stop judging him based on anything outside the game film he put together while not being fully utilized at Clemson.

The wide receiver room behind Terry McLaurin is wide open, with several players, including Treylon Burks and Dyami Brown, battling it out for every single rep. But what this Duke film should tell you is that Williams' short-area quickness and dynamic field vision are the type of traits that catch coaches' attention and will help force his way into the conversation.

If you're interested in watching the entire Antonio Williams vs Duke Blue Devils All-22 video, it's below.

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