Bennett Williams

Bennett Williams (born February 26, 1999) is an American football safety who is a free agent. He played college football at Illinois, San Mateo, and Oregon.

Bennett Williams
Personal information
Born: (1999-02-26) February 26, 1999
Campbell, California, U. S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:St. Francis (Mountain View, California)
College:Illinois (2017)
San Mateo (2018–2019)
Oregon (2020–2022)
Position:Strong safety
Undrafted:2023
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics as of 2023
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early life

Williams was born on February 26, 1999, in Campbell, California. Williams attended St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California where he played as a wide receiver and cornerback. On offense brought in 40 receptions, for 824 yards, and eight touchdowns. On defense he made 166 tackles, with seven going for a loss, 46 pass defelections, 17 interceptions, and three forced fumbles.[1] On January 31, 2017, Williams would decide to commit to Illinois to play college football over other school such as Air Force, Columbia, Harvard, Hawaii, San Jose State, Yale, and UNLV.[2][3]

College career

Illinois

In Williams first season with Illinois he put up 64 tackles, 1.5 going for a loss, three interceptions, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble.[4] For his stellar freshman performance he was named to the Freshman All-American team.[5] To begain Williams sophomore year he was suspended for the first three games of the season.[6] After Williams amazing first year with Illinois, he was dismissed from the team after a violation of team rules.[7][8]

San Mateo

After being dismissed from Illinois, Williams would head to junior college, San Mateo.[9] In his time with San Mateo, Williams was named a Junio College All American, while also being named first-team All-Bay six, and also earning all-conference honors. Williams would also help lead San Mateo to its first state title.[10][11]

2020-21 season

After one year at San Mateo, Williams would sign with the Oregon Ducks.[12][13] In Williams first season with Oregon he played in six games, making 15 tackles, including two tackles for a loss, a sack, and two pass deflections.[14]

2021-22 season

On September 25, 2021, Williams had his breakout game notching two interceptions, including returning one for a 68-yard touchdown, to help the #3 Ducks, beat Arizona 41–19.[15][16] For his performance in his breakout game he was named the Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week.[17][18] However just over a week later, Williams would suffer a broken fibula which would cuase him to miss the rest of the regular season.[19] Williams would however be cleared to play in the team's bowl game.[20] Williams would finish his shortend year 20 tackles, with one going for a loss, three interceptions, and an touchdown, in five games.[21]

2022-23 season

On November 21, 2022, Williams had one of the best games of his career after racking up 14 tackles, and two interceptions, to help the Ducks upset #10 Utah and help the Ducks keep their chance of reaching the College Football Playoff alive.[22][23][24] Williams would finish the season playing in 13 games, while making 72 tackles, with 1.5 being for a loss, a sack, two interceptions, six pass deflections, and two forced fumbles.[25]

Profesional career

After going unselected in the 2023 NFL Draft, Williams would sign with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent.[26][27] He was waived on August 2.[28]

References
  1. "Football Stats". Max Preps. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  2. Sabedra, Darren. "Football recruiting: St. Francis' Bennett Williams chooses Illinois". Mercuary News. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  3. Vainisi, Jim. "Three-star DB Bennett Williams commits to Illinois Football". The Champaign Room. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  4. "2017 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  5. Schutte, Dustin. "ESPN unveils Freshman All-America team". Saturday Tradition. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  6. Holleran, Andrew. "A Major Program Just Announced 5 Suspensions Right Before Kickoff". The Spun. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  7. "Bennett Williams: 'I take full responsibility for my actions'". 247Sports. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  8. Schutte, Dustin. "Illinois DB dismissed for another violation of team rules". Saturday Tradition. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  9. Friis, Daniel. "Bennett Williams: junior college football legend". Daily Emerald. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  10. "Bennett Williams". Oregon University Athletics. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  11. Mazeika, Vytas. "College of San Mateo seeks its first state football title". The Mercury News. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  12. "Ducks Secure Commitment from Former ESPN All-American Safety". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  13. Nemec, Andrew. "Bennett Williams, former ESPN Freshman All-American safety, commits to Oregon Ducks". Oregon Live. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  14. "2020 Oregon Ducks Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  15. Crepea, James. "Bennett Williams' 2 interceptions, including pick-six, lead Oregon Ducks defense to most interceptions since 1999". Oregon Live. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  16. "WATCH: Bennett Williams breaks down his Pick-Six, two INT performance". 247Sports. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  17. Crepea, James. "Oregon Ducks nickel Bennett Williams named Walter Camp national FBS defensive player of the week". Oregon Live. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  18. "Oregon's Bennett Williams Named Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week". Fox Sports Eugene. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  19. Hansen, Chris. "No. 8 Oregon football's CJ Verdell and Bennett Williams suffer season-ending injuries". The Registar Guard. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  20. Neel, Zachary. "Bennett Williams is cleared to play for Oregon Ducks in Alamo Bowl after suffering broken fibula". Ducks Wire. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  21. "2021 Oregon Ducks Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  22. Crepea, James. "Oregon Ducks safety Bennett Williams has best game of his career with 14 tackles, 2 interceptions against Utah". Oregon Live. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  23. "Bennett Williams named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week". 750 The Game. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  24. Slinde, Erin. "Oregon football proves toughness in win over Utah". KCBY 11. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  25. "2022 Oregon Ducks Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  26. Crepea, James. "Oregon Ducks safety Bennett Williams signs as undrafted free agent with Miami Dolphins". Oregon Live. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  27. Smalley, Don. "Oregon safety Bennett Williams signs with Miami Dolphins as non-drafted free agent". Ducks Wire. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  28. "Dolphins waive two players, sign another". SBNation.com. August 2, 2023.
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