Scouting The 2017 NFL Draft: Jamaal Williams, RB, BYU

Introduction

Hometown: Fontana, California

High School: Summit High School

Recruitment: 3 Stars

Awards

2013 FBS All-Independent Team

2014 Maxwell Award watch list

2016 Maxwell Award Watchlist

Measurables

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 220

Class: Senior

Projected 40 Time: 4.56

Stats

Positives

• Impressive power
• Generates good yardage after contact
• Breaks lots of tackles
• Always keeps his legs moving forward
• Has very good balance
• Has good size
• Has good acceleration in the open field
• Shows patience
• Has good vision
• Doesn’t fumble much at all

Negatives

• Suffered a knee injury at the end of 2014
• Sat out 2015 due to "personal issues"
• Was arrested for suspicion of underage drinking
• Wasn't used much as a receiver
• Needs to work on his pass protection

Conclusion

Jamaal is an impressive runner coming out of BYU. Williams isn’t a running back that does anything at an elite level, but he does everything at a high enough level where he can be decently productive in the NFL. Jamaal has the ability, to be a 3 down back if he works on his pass protection, but would be better off as a two down guy to start. I wouldn't worry too much about his arrest. A football player being caught drinking would be an afterthought at any other school but BYU. I am not condoning underage drinking, but compared to some of the other off field problems some players have, this is near the bottom. Bilal Powell has shown that he is ready to take the next step as a runner. It is still yet to be seen if he can be a 3 down back for an entire season though. My money's on no. I expect Matt Forte to take on the role as a change of pace back to Powell, but there is still a hole in our running back crew. We still need a banger for short yardage, and goal-line situations. If we don’t want to spend an early round pick on RB, and still fill out the position, Williams would be a great pick.

Draft Round Prediction: Round 4