NFL Draft: Oregon S Bennett Williams The Other Star in Ducks Secondary
Oregon is one of the most underrated defensive pipelines to the NFL.
The Ducks’ have produced top-tier defensive players over the years. Still, we consistently get caught up in the offense that former head coach Chip Kelly turned their offensive into a cultural phenomenon in collegiate football. Kelly created an offensive culture that dominated the college landscape during his tenure in Eugene.
The barrage of points that rained down on opponents via the Ducks’ offensive has still, to this day, blurred our vision and missed the defensive stars that have gone on to have successful careers in the NFL.
For every Justin Herbert, I’ll raise you a Kayvon Thibodeaux. If you say Marcus Mariota, I’ll reply with DeForest Buckner. You mention Joey Harrington, and I shoot Arik Armstead back. Piggybacking off that defensive theme leads us to the Oregon secondary. Their elite group of safeties, including Patrick Chung, Jairus Byrd and Jevon Holland, comes to mind as another group of outstanding talents.
Obviously, defensive back Christian Gonzalez hovers near the very top of the 2023 NFL Draft class. His stellar combine, in conjunction with his career at Oregon, has placed him in the realm of being selected inside the top ten of the NFL Draft.
Once again, the Ducks are funneling in more talent-rich defensive prospects into the league.
In the shadow of Gonzalez is safety Bennett Williams. In his own right, Williams is a baller. He was the first true freshman safety to start at Illinois in over three decades. He also was the Ducks’ leading tackler (72) this past season. Helping to reestablish himself at Oregon after his illustrious turned somewhat disastrous career at Illinois.
“I think honestly after that year it built up my ego a little too much, to be honest,” Williams said from the hype after his freshman season in the Big Ten. “I fell off a little bit and started to make some mistakes in terms of just keeping up with my work habits.”
A few missteps during his sophomore year led him out of Illinois and resurfacing at the JUCO level, where he would begin to rebuild his career at San Mateo Community College. It was a saving grace for the Campbell, California native who could handle his own against anyone in college football but needed to harness the tiny fundamentals to get back on track.
How did he handle real adversity?
This is when the true character of Williams was revealed. Williams could have soured on the game and slacked off. He blamed others as he moped around and felt glum. Nah, that isn’t Williams. He reignited his career at San Mateo into an inferno. The small-school atmosphere provided him with the perfect opportunity to regain a deep focus on football and prepare for his next shot at another Power 5 program.
“Something I feel grateful for looking back,” Williams said of his days at San Mateo. “Having been able to go and humble myself and take that step back. Learn some of the basics. Mostly off-the-field stuff at JUCO.”
Williams was once again on his original trajectory of being one of the top-tier safeties in college football. He left San Mateo ranked as the No. 3 safety in the nation and headed to Oregon in 2019. His arrival at Oregon provided another character-building session for Williams.
The humility he learned from his JUCO days paid early dividends at Oregon. Accustomed to being “the guy” at both Illinois and San Mateo, the landscape was different in Eugene. Williams was at the bottom of the Totem pole. He wasn’t given any luxury accommodations into the starting line-up. He was going to earn it while he learned it from players like Jevon Holland and Verone McKinley III. He was also watching Gonzalez and admiring his teammate's fierce dedication to improvement.
“I saw him working in the off-season and getting work in by himself, and it pushed me,” Williams said of Gonzalez’s work ethic. “I was like, okay, let me go do some work. I’m not going to let him outwork me.”
Williams loved playing with Gonzalez. He mentioned that during his time at the East West Shrine Bowl earlier this year, he replied to the often-asked question by NFL scouts - Who would I want to take and play with from Oregon? Williams said he replied “Gonzalez” every time.
Playing with Gonzalez made Williams a better player. Teams avoided Gonzalez for obvious reasons leaving Williams left in more man coverages and attention to the slot receivers. It allowed him to make more plays here and there. It provided several instances where more pressure was applied to his position because teams weren’t going near Gonzalez.
Williams finished his career with 173 tackles and an impressive eight interceptions. He earned a respectable 73.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus playing 787 snaps that led the Ducks’ secondary. His real knack is in the run game, where his 86.2 grade shined. It ranked second amongst all Pac-12 defenders and inside the top-25 in the FBS.
“I played a bunch of different positions,” Williams mentioned when describing his versatility. “I played safety. I played corner. I played nickel. I played dime position down there in the box. Covered tight ends and slot receivers.”
Playing with six different coaches in six different years also adds another element to Williams’ football IQ. He takes pride in being a student of the game and credits his film study as one of the major components to help keep his opponents in check. It keeps him a step ahead and places him in the right position to make the play.
Six other Ducks were invited to the NFL Combine and one could make the case that Williams should have been the seventh. Nonetheless, he has proven to be ‘the guy’ at Illinois. Proven to be ‘the guy’ at San Mateo and proved to become one of ‘the guys’ at Oregon.
The goal now is to be ‘the guy’ on one of the 32 rosters in the National Football League.
Smart money is he becomes ‘the guy’ somewhere in the NFL.
