Football has always been and always will be king in Texas. So it’s always nice to see good high school players play their college ball in Texas, and it’s even better when those players end up getting drafted by the Dallas Cowboys.
Dallas Cowboys’ third round draft pick Terrance Williams is one of these homegrown talents. Williams was born in Dallas where he grew up and played his high school football at W.T. White High School before he was recruited to play at Baylor University.
Now Williams is back in his hometown playing for the Cowboys who may have stolen the best pick in the third round with Williams. At one point, Williams was possibly considered a first round talent but after his 2011 season at Baylor his quarterback, a guy named Robert Griffin III, entered the draft and everyone seemed to forget about Baylor for the 2012 season.
However, Williams took his senior season at Baylor as an opportunity to fill the void left by Kendall Wright as Baylor’s number one receiver. Williams led the country in receiving yards in 2012 with 1,832 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. Those are some good numbers for a player being drafted in the third round.
The most important number, however, is an average of almost 19 yards per catch his senior year. He could be a legitimate deep threat for a Cowboys offense that is looking to make more big plays this season.
In Baylor’s offense, Williams was mostly running simple deep routes and that caused draft analysts to question whether or not he would be able to adapt to more complex pro packages and varieties of routes. Dez Bryant has had similar issues with route running, but he has worked through it and is now considered an elite receiver.
In many ways, Williams is similar to Bryant. Not saying that he is Bryant, but the similarities are there for sure. Both have the ability to go up and grab catches in tight spaces, and they are both deep threats. They both clocked a 4.52 40 yard dash at their respective NFL combines. Hopefully the Cowboys find their number two outside receiver in Williams which would allow Miles Austin to play from the slot more, where he tends to be more productive.
Even if Williams struggles offensively, which I don’t think he will, he could prove valuable on special teams. As a freshman at Baylor he took on kick returning duties averaging about 24 yards per return.
If you are worried about how he will transition to the NFL, don’t. His former teammate RGIII has already given him some advice about the transition. Griffin reportedly encouraged Williams to not change who he is. There you go Cowboys Nation, Williams cannot go wrong with advice from such a savvy NFL veteran.
