Evan Williams is as smooth as Kentucky whiskey, with the hustle and flow to make Strawberry Canyon whine.
Williams, 6-1,200 from Campbell, California, started 32 games in four seasons at Fresno State. The younger brother of former Oregon safety Bennett Williams, he was 2nd team All-Mountain West in 2022, First Team in 2021.
He missed four games with a knee injury last year, but came back to help the Bulldogs to ten straight wins after a 1-4 start. He's a leader. His teammates picked two permanent captains last season. One was quarterback Jake Haener. The other was Evan Williams.
The first question fans ask about a Mountain West transfer moving to the PAC-12 is, can he play at this level? In Evan's case, the answer is an emphatic yes. The Bulldogs regularly took on PAC-12 foes over his four seasons, and those matchups included several of his biggest games statistically:
7 tackles and a safety in 29-6 win over WSU in the LA Bowl, December 2022
5 tackles vs USC September 202212 tackles in 40-37 win over #13 UCLA Sept 2021
12 tackles in 31-24 loss to Oregon Sept 2021
According to his Fresno State bio, Williams patterned his game after the Honey Badger, former LSU and current New Orleans Saint safety Tyrann Mathieu. “He plays fast and he is undersized and underestimated,” he said.
Williams stays true to the model. He plays with a motor like Mathieu's, a fire in the belly.
𝙊𝙪𝙘𝙝....@evan_williams32 | #GoDogs | 📺FS2 pic.twitter.com/ikucclTO9h
— Fresno State Football 🏆 (@FresnoStateFB) November 6, 2022
Fresno State had some dudes in D last year. S Evan Williams might have been my favorite. No fear when he fills pic.twitter.com/QH6dz1TFy7
— Joe Broback (@joebroback) July 21, 2022
Great concentration by Fresno State safety Evan Williams to secure the pick and give the Bulldogs the ball back!
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 16, 2021
Williams, a junior, has been a steady playmaker for Fresno State over the past three seasons.pic.twitter.com/2Rp7IFa3uO
WE GOIN’ TO THE ‘SHIP‼️@evan_williams32 | #GoDogs pic.twitter.com/xLP7NtuS0C
— Fresno State Football 🏆 (@FresnoStateFB) November 20, 2022
The other thing to know about him is that he's bright and articulate. A 3.7 student, Williams had scholarship offers from Princeton, Columbia and Air Force coming out of St. Francis High School. The intelligence shows up in his play, the way he knifes in to make a big hit, smells out misdirection and cleans up mistakes. He plays in a style that elevates his teammates, something the Oregon defense needed last year.
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