Dallas Cowboys Draft: 10 Running Back Prospects To Know
James Williams, Washington State
What’s Good: Catching, Tackle Breaking
What Ain’t Good: Size, Agility, System
When the name Washington State appears, Mike Leach and Gardner Minshew come to mind. For this article’s sake, Washington State will have James Williams and attached to its brand as well. Mike Leach loves his pass happy offense that consists of so many short passes that Gardner Minshew lead the NCAA in passing yards. He averaged 7.2 yards per attempt, he completed 468 passes, and this all totaled for a whopping 4779 yards and 38 touchdowns. (All numbers were from Sports Reference)
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So this brings me to my argument for James Williams. He caught a lot of passes from Minshew and others. (202 receptions from 3 years according to Sports Reference) This is an insane amount of receptions for a running back, but what it does prove is he can be a receiving back in the league. He’s proven he has sure hands and most of them were when he lined up in the back field.
For someone his size, 5’9″ and 197 pounds, he runs incredibly strong. He’s smaller than Bryce Love and isn’t nearly as fast or agile. But unlike Love, he breaks tackles at a surprising rate and his durability is better because he’s used more as a receiver instead of a running back.
In regards to his agility, it isn’t good. His 20 yard shuttle, 60 yard shuttle, and 3 cone drill times aren’t great. For someone his size, they aren’t encouraging at all. Williams can catch passes out of the backfield, but his athleticism should be a concern for teams.
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Could he be a Cowboy?:
Sure. I think Williams would definitely available in the 7th round and possibly as an UDFA. If undrafted the Cowboys could look to bring him in as a camp body. The Cowboys have used their running backs as receivers from the back field and Williams did it all the time at Wassu. The athleticism isn’t great but he provides a skill set that works well with what the Cowboys have run in the past. For that reason he could fit with the Cowboys.