One of Tennessee’s top defensive back targets has a date set for when he’s announcing his college decision.
Joel Williams, a four-star athlete/defensive back who plays for Madison Prep Academy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, proclaimed on Twitter on Friday that he’s announcing which school he’s committing to on September 9th, roughly two months from now. He originally released a top four about three weeks ago that consisted of LSU, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida, but the graphic on Twitter that was included with his announcement date also included Houston and Kentucky.
September 9th…. pic.twitter.com/0k97RAEi3M
— Joel Williams? (@sayyjoee) July 12, 2019
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Williams is the No. 299 overall player, No. 17 athlete, and No. 11 player in the state of Louisiana. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound athlete committed to Florida on May 19th, just two days after taking an unofficial visit to their campus. On June 10th, he announced his decommitment from the Gators and re-opened his recruitment.
Williams traveled to Tennessee twice in a two month span earlier this year, coming to campus for the first time in early March and returning on April 24th as well. It’s believed he’ll be making a trip to Knoxville shortly after the current recruiting dead period ends in late July as well.
Alabama is Williams’ most recent offer. He camped at Alabama on June 2nd and received an offer from the Tide the same day. He decommitted from Florida a week later. He’s also already taken an official visit to Houston back on June 14th, and he camped at LSU on June 20th and visited Alabama again the next day.
On film, Williams’ versatility stands out. His big frame separates him from many other players both on offense and defense, and he uses his size and speed to dominate. Williams has very good instincts on defense and plays physically there. He won’t let receivers push him around, and he contests passes with ease. On offense and special teams, he uses his good vision and athleticism to create big plays. It’s likely he’ll play at either safety or cornerback in college, wherever he ends up.
Williams does it all for Madison Prep, but he’s being recruited more as a defensive back rather than receiver by most schools. As a junior, he caught 10 touchdown passes on offense and recorded 35 tackles and 13 pass break-ups on defense.
Tennessee currently has four projected defensive backs committed to them in their 2020 recruiting class. Four-star in-state safety Keshawn Lawrence, four-star safety Antonio Johnson, No. 1 overall JUCO prospect and four-star cornerback Art Green, and three-star cornerback Lovie Jenkins are UT’s defensive back commits right now.
