A lot of people are curious whether Nick Williams will end up settling down at one position. Including Williams himself.
The Georgia junior admitted Wednesday that he was "frustrated" over shifting constantly between safety and linebacker. The Bainbridge native has been bouncing between the positions essentially since his career began, and is doing that even now.
“I don’t know where I’m gonna be from week to week," Williams said. "Everybody else is getting comfortable at their position. I’m back and forth. I’m not saying I won’t do it. I’ll do it. If coach came to me tomorrow and said 'I need you to play linebacker,' I’d be ‘OK coach, no problem.’ But it’s frustrating moving back and forth, not knowing where you’re going to be."
Williams estimated he played about 15 snaps on defense against Arkansas, plus some special teams. He said he played in dime packages, where his position could basically be called either safety or linebacker.
At 6-foot-2 and 218 pounds, Williams has the size for either position. He began his career in the secondary, then moved to linebacker, then shifted back to safety before this season.
"You can’t get comfortable," Williams said. "I mean this is D-1, dog, this is Georgia. I don’t know that many players that can go from big-time safety and the next week can be a big-time linebacker. You’ve got some hybrid players out there but I don’t know too many guys that can do that. I just wanna get comfortable at one point.”
Williams' preference is clear: He wants to play safety. But he'll play either spot, as long as he can focus on one.
“It is frustrating," he said. "I am frustrated. They know that. But I’m not a selfish guy.”
Williams was adamant, however, that he would not transfer.
Head coach Mark Richt said Tuesday he hoped the team would be able to have Williams "settle into one position."
“He’s just gotta keep banging away," Richt said. "He’s just gotta keep going to those meetings and knowing what he’s gotta do. He’s gotta practice in such a way that it’ll give coach Lakatos and coach Grantham more confidence.”
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
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6 comments:
I feel for that kid. I love seeing him play. That hybrid position works for me as long as it gets employed often enough, but I'd like to see him in at safety too. I especially wish he'd seen some playing time there against SCe, just so we could have seen him say hello to Lattimore.
PS - Verification word: ovaree
Doesn't this seem like something a competent coaching staff would have figured out by now? They have had enough time to evaluate him so they should put him in one position and stick with it.
I think this sentence is pretty telling.
"He’s gotta practice in such a way that it’ll give coach Lakatos and coach Grantham more confidence."
Looks like Nick needs to step it up a little bit.
The key issue that was not addressed in the story is whether Nick Williams is even good enough to be a consistent contributor at either position. As we have seen in the past (think: Brandon Miller) simple physical tools do not always translate into being a good football player.
is he related to reggie ball, dog?
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Nice list. I will use it in future. Thanks for the efforts to make this list!Nice list. I will use it in future. Thanks for the efforts to make this list!
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