Position: Tackle
Height: 6'5" Weight: 337 lbs
College: Oklahoma
Drafted: First Round Pick Fourth Overall
Trent Williams is the anchor of the Washington Redskins offensive line. Here are five things to know about the former first round pick:
#1. Trent Williams hails from Longview, Texas and played his high school football at Longview High School. As a junior at Longview, he was a second team all-district 12-5A selection and his last year, he was a unanimous first team all-district selection. He also received first team All-East Texas, first team Preseason SuperPrep team, second team Texas all-state honors and played in the Max Emfinger All-Star game.
According to the 247sports Composite, Williams was a three star offensive guard in the class of 2006. He was ranked the No. 25 best guard and No. 67 best player in Texas. He received offers from Oklahoma, LSU, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. He chose to play his college football at Oklahoma.
#2. In his freshman year as a Sooner (2006), he was named to "The Sporting News' Freshman All-America second team starting the last six games of the season due to Brandon Braxton's leg injury. Williams was a member of the offensive line group that led the Big 12 and finished 11th in the nation in fewest sacks allowed per game (1.21). He was a big part of the Sooners rushing attack that averaged 177.14 yards per game. The Sooners offense itself while the offense averaged 30.29 points (19th in the NCAA).
As a sophomore (2007), he played in all 14 games (seven starts at right tackle). He helped the Sooners rank fifth in the nation in scoring (42.29 ppg) and fewest sacks allowed (1.0 spg). The offense that year put up yards easily as they averaged 448.93 yards per game (19th in NCAA).
His junior year (2008), he started all 14 games for the first time in his career. He earned an All-Big 12 first-team honors by the coaches, second-team honors by Dallas Morning News and San Antonio Express News and was an Associated Press honorable mention selection.
He was a brick wall to opposing defenders as he only allowed just a half-sack, two pressures and was penalized twice in 517 pass plays. He helped his offense finish third in the nation in passing (349.36 ypg), total offense (547.86 ypg) and fewest sacks allowed (0.93 spg), while leading the country in scoring (51.14 ppg).
In his last season as an Oklahoma Sooner (2009), he earned the following accolades:
- First-team All-American as a senior in 2009
- First-team All- America honors by The NFL Draft Report, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Football Foundation, Associated Press, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Kansas City Star and Waco Herald Tribune as a senior
- Consensus first-team All-Big 12 Conference honors after he shifted to left tackle in his final season and allowed just two quarterback sacks
He was the only senior returning starter along the offensive line and led the Sooners to the 11th spot in NCAA for average passing yards (289.23 passing yards per game) and 16th nationally in fewest sacks allowed per game (1.15). For his career, he started 39-of-50 games, including 12 at left tackle and 27 on the right side.
#3. The Washington Redskins drafted Williams fourth overall in 2010. He was honored in Longview, TX with "Trent Williams Day" on May 12, 2010 to celebrate his selection in the NFL Draft. In his five seasons with this team, he has played in 71 games with 70 starts.
He became an Offensive Captain (2011-14) and three-time Pro Bowl selection (2012-14 seasons). Williams will be in his last season of his rookie deal this year and feels as though remaining a Washington Redskin is a no-brainer according to Redskins.com's Andrew Walker:
"We’ll see. Business has to work itself out. Obviously I’m not educated in that department, so I’ve got my representation, and I just let them guys talk and let them handle it, and hopefully we can get something done soon."
If the three Pro Bowl selections aren't enough, Williams ranked in the Top 100 NFL Players list two years running (2014 & 2015). Here's what his colleagues had to say about his 2015 performance:
#4. Trent Williams gave some advice to his fellow first round offensive lineman teammate Brandon Scherff:
"I mean, the season doesn’t start until September, so once you get in this building, get around the guys, you’re just a ball of nerves for a few months," he said to Larry Michael, Voice of the Redskins, Thursday. So I’mma just try to tell him to relax and approach the game just like he did in college, and it’ll come natural to him. You don’t have to do anything extra – you just accept the coaching, you soak everything up like a sponge, and when it’s that time you perform, you just make sure you’re very critical of yourself and detail your work."
#5. Trent Williams and Richard Sherman no longer have beef with one another:
Great weekend at the @Nike opening and kicking it with @RSherman_25 great dude. No people we're not beefing lol pic.twitter.com/WWAKqwkRdB
— Trent Williams (@TrentW71) July 13, 2015
Bottom Line: Trent Williams I'm sure will get the big contract he surely deserves after this season. I'll be interested to see how he and Brandon Scherff work together.