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CHAPEL HILL — Of all the excellent numbers that have become attached to Javonte Williams, he of the record-breaking touchdowns and tackle-shredding toughness, there’s another set that holds special significance for the former North Carolina standout and soon-to-be NFL draftee.
His undistinguished place among Class of 2018 high school football recruits, a group in which evaluators rated him as the No. 1,476 overall prospect nationally and 94th-best running back.
“I think about that a lot,” Williams said recently, “just coming from where I come from, not that many people get a chance to be in the position I’m in now. I was very under-recruited coming out of high school, but I feel like everything’s a blessing and everything happens for a reason. So honestly, I just feel like this is like my destiny.”
Running back Javonte Williams works out for NFL scouts and coaches during North Carolina’s pro day activities last month in Chapel Hill.
Times-News
[Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Camarati / UNC athletics]
From an afterthought on the college recruiting trail to the forefront of the rankings for pro hopefuls at his position, Williams’ remarkable rise will take its latest step this week in the NFL Draft, the three-day event that gets under way with Thursday night’s first round.
North Carolina’s program figures to have a batch of players drafted — receiver Dyami Brown, linebacker Chazz Surratt, running back Michael Carter and receiver Dazz Newsome are likely to be chosen at various points across the course of Friday night (second and third rounds) and Saturday (fourth round through seventh round) — with Williams, the power back, leading the way as the first Tar Heels product expected to be selected.
And maybe even the top running back off the board. Alabama’s Najee Harris and Clemson’s Travis Etienne, exclusive company indeed, generally are slotted ahead of Williams in draft projections by position, though some analysts can see Williams perhaps vaulting ahead and landing late in the first round with teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers (24th pick) or Buffalo Bills (30th pick), or early in the second round.
The 21-year-old Williams, whose birthday was Sunday, supplied the thunder to the speedy Carter’s lightning in North Carolina’s double-barreled backfield. He made just two starts during his three seasons in Chapel Hill. Now, he could be on the doorstep of a featured back role in the NFL.
“That’s very exciting,” Williams said. “I try not to get caught up too much into the rankings or anything like that. I just keep my head down and go to work, like I’m supposed to. But if I had a chance to come in Day One and start, that’d be crazy.”
At North Carolina’s pro day last month, when the Tar Heels bound for the draft performed in front of NFL scouts, coaches and front office personnel, Williams said he had worked since January on improving his time in the 40-yard dash (clocked at 4.55 seconds that day), a process of adjusting and refining.
He said friendly competition in college has served as both a motivator and encourager, while crediting Carter and former North Carolina running back Antonio Williams, who plays in the NFL, as older Tar Heels who set a certain standard.
“When I got here, I feel like just seeing them and learning from them,” Williams said, “taking little pieces of their game and incorporating it into mine, I feel like that’s one way I developed. And also knowing that if I didn’t get better, I wasn’t going to be able to play.”
Williams delivered 22 touchdowns last season and surpassed the North Carolina single-season school record Don McCauley had held since 1970, before joining teammates Dyami Brown, Surratt and Carter in declaring for the NFL Draft and opting not to participate in the Orange Bowl, an eventual loss for the Tar Heels against Texas A&M.
Williams churned out 236 rushing yards and three touchdowns in December in North Carolina’s 62-26 mauling of Miami to conclude the regular season, a burly closing statement to punctuate his junior year and another performance packed with striking moments fueled by his battering-ram exploits.
He ran for 1,140 yards on 157 attempts last season, a healthy average of 7.3 yards per carry, and piled up 19 touchdowns on the ground. He finished his three-year college career with 2,297 rushing yards, the 14th-highest total in North Carolina program history.
And beyond the usual fare of standard box scores, the analytics that measure advanced statistics put the 5-foot-10, 212-pound Williams at the head of an elite group, rating him as the most difficult running back to tackle in college football last season.
He gained 720 yards after contact and forced more missed tackles (75) than any player in the nation, despite carrying 95 fewer times than Alabama’s Harris, who checked in second in that category with 71 missed tackles to his credit.
“It’s awesome,” Tar Heels quarterback Sam Howell said in October, while heaping appreciation on Williams. “Every time I hand off the ball, I definitely snap my head around to look and see how many yards he’s going to make. He’s going to put somebody on the ground every single time he has the ball in his hands.”
Williams produced six 100-yard rushing games last season, and at least two touchdowns in seven games.
He mostly went overlooked in recruiting. He had received an offer from East Carolina and interest from other schools such as Elon, before Larry Fedora, then the North Carolina coach, watched him rip off 207 rushing yards and two touchdowns in December 2017 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.
That effort powered Wallace-Rose Hill High School to its fourth straight state title, and ultimately landed Williams with the Tar Heels.
North Carolina coach Mack Brown regularly has praised Williams’ developmental strides. Brown said in November “he’s probably improved as much as anybody I’ve ever seen” since the session of spring practices in 2019 when the Tar Heels’ current coaching staff got their first hands-on impressions.
“I’m amazed,” Brown said. “When we got here, he was a short-yardage and goal-line guy kind of the year before, and we all thought he was good, but not this. I mean, he just continues to get better.
“I think the thing I’ve seen him improve the most is explosive power. I mean, he gets from here to there and he’s so powerful and he runs so low to the ground, and he’s got such big, strong thighs that he makes a lot of people miss tackles every game. And some of them that try to tackle him, he just punishes them.”
Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.
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