Jaden Williams Had to Grow up Fast as a True Freshman
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
Jaden Williams still thinks it was a catch.
With the game tied at 13-13 in Death Valley, Boston College quarterback Dennis Grosel trusted the true freshman wide receiver. Grosel fired a 3rd-and-10 pass down the right sideline into double coverage for Williams.
Williams, who snatched three touchdowns in his first four games in an Eagles uniform, adjusted to the ball and outstretched his arms while creating some separation from Clemson cornerback Sheridan Jones. Sure, there was a bobble. But he’s certain he secured the reception on his way down to the ground. It would have been good for a 30-some-yard gain. Instead, it was ruled incomplete.
“I believe that’s a catch,” Williams confidently said after Saturday’s spring practice.
Talk to Williams for 60 seconds, you’d already know it’s no surprise that he believes in himself. He’s had to when not many other people have. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound wideout was a two-star recruit coming out of Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville, Texas.
He had seven offers, and BC was the only Power Five school to give him a chance.
“I got a saying I always say,” Williams said. “I say ‘I’m pissed off’ because of how my recruiting went. I have a chip on my shoulder every game, every play. I just want to beat everybody. And just let them know my name.”
Fittingly, Williams—a speedster like BC star Zay Flowers—did that pretty quickly on the Heights. He generated buzz during fall camp, at one point hauling in four touchdowns in one practice the second week of August. Despite entering as the third wide receiver in his class—both Dante Reynolds and Lewis Bond were rated higher than Williams, according to the Rivals database—Williams stood out the most.
So much so that he was getting 30-plus snaps a game as a true freshman. He scored touchdowns against Colgate, Temple and Missouri in the first four weeks of action, grabbing nine passes for 77 yards.
Williams said he was expecting that.
“I was really expecting a little more,” he admitted.
As the Eagles’ offense dwindled during ACC play, so did Williams’ reception numbers. Some of it was on him, though. Like when BC hosted North Carolina State on Homecoming Weekend, and Williams posted a trio of drops, one of which led to an interception, in just 12 snaps.
“When those plays happened, nobody bashed me,” Williams said. “Nobody talked bad about me. They just said, ‘Jaden, keep your head up. Jaden, you got it.’ And that's what I love about our receiving corps.”
Williams bounced back, recording three receptions for 27 yards the next week at Louisville. Then, a week after Phil Jurkovec returned, he made three catches for 62 yards at Georgia Tech. And, against Florida State, he played a season-high 74 snaps—according to PFF—and brought down two passes for 31 yards.
“It really became a mindset thing,” Williams said. “I just had to sit down one day and think, ‘This is a big stage. This is not high school ball no more.’ ... I had to mature quicker because I started out really quick.”
Williams is from Austin, Texas. When he first made the transition to Chestnut Hill, he missed home.
Then he had a realization.
“My mom tells me this every time: ‘Nothing's for me down there,’” Williams said. “So I just stay focused up here.”
He noted that he’s become significantly more confident over the last year—in his route running, releases, everything really. Williams said that he loves offensive coordinator John McNulty’s scheme, particularly how it’s designed to get playmakers like him the ball in space.
Williams also raved about new wide receiver coach Darrell Wyatt, who coached Williams’ hometown friend Ryan O’Keefe at UCF the last few years.
“First three days I came in here, he was coaching the heck out of us,” Williams said. “And, next thing you know, in practice, I'm wide open most of the plays.”
Williams looks a little different, too. He dropped the “8” from his jersey. Rather than wearing the No. 80, he took CJ Burton’s place as No. 0. When Burton wore the number, he was “Agent Zero.”
Williams is going for something different: “Sub Zero.”
“I was really picking between 2 and 0, and I thought 0 would be better, because that's really how many people can guard me.”
Confidence. It comes in bunches among BC’s wide receiver corps. And while Flowers is the face of the group, Williams—strikingly similar in ability in aura—is the future.
