Ryan Williams Scouting Report

Ryan Williams burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman in 2010. With fellow Virginia Tech running back Darren Evans on the sidelines, Williams was forced into action. He would have worked his way into being a nice change of pace back for Evans, but instead he took over the offense. On 293 carries, Williams rushed for 1,655 yards and 21 touchdowns. He even caught 16 passes for 180 yards and a score. That is quite impressive for a player who barely saw the ball during the spring until Evans got hurt.

Unfortunately for Williams, this year Evans is back and it is he who is spending some time on the sidelines with an injury. Williams started the 2010 campaign off by rushing for three touchdowns in the first three games, but was injured in that contest and missed the next four games…and counting. He should be back by the end of the year since the hamstring injury does not appear to be that serious, but the lack of playing time is putting a damper on his draft status.

Heading into the year Williams was probably one of the top four or five draft eligible running backs, but others are passing him by while NFL teams start to wonder if he can build off of his freshman campaign or if he will develop into a player who struggles with injuries. His 3.0 yards per carry this season will not get him drafted very high and right now he would be wise to return to the Hokies for another year.

1/15 Update: Williams came back in late October and slowly regained his form and showed everybody why he was considered one of the best draft eligible running backs. On November 20th in Miami Williams rushed for 142 yards on just 14 carries and reached the end zone twice. The following week he added two more touchdowns. Building off that success, Williams is leaving early for the NFL. On most draft boards he will be the second to only Mark Ingram in the running back pecking order and that means he could easily be off the board by the end of the first round.