How freshman OL Jerome Williams will fit in the Gophers' O-line room
After highlighting wide receiver Donielle Hayes a few days ago, we move on to our next summer enrolled for Minnesota, offensive lineman Jerome Williams.
It's worth reminding you that the following players have already enrolled early; QB Drew Viotto, RB Darius Taylor, WR Kenric Lanier, WR TJ McWilliams, OL Reese Tripp, OL Greg Johnson, DT Martin Owusu, DB Kerry Brown, and DB Garrison Monroe.
The three-star offensive lineman out of Osseo committed to the Gophers over offers from Illinois, Iowa state, Kansas, Missouri, and West Virginia. He committed to the Gophers in early February of 2022 and would only take an official visit to Minneapolis in his recruitment,.
WHAT WILLIAMS BRINGS TO THE GOPHERS
Williams has only been playing football for a few years now so he is a bit on the rawer side as an offensvie lineman. That being said, he's got good size and elite length. He's a very athletic offensive lineman and you can see that on his tape quite well. His ultimate position is still up to question as you can make an argument he could play any of the positions on the offensive line.
WHERE HE FITS ON THE ROSTER
| POSITION | FIRST STRING | SECOND STRING | THIRD STRING |
|---|---|---|---|
|
LEFT TACKLE |
Airontae Ersery |
Tony Nelson |
Logan Purcell |
|
LEFT GUARD |
Tyler Cooper |
Karter Shaw |
Greg Johnson |
|
CENTER |
Nathan Boe |
Cade McConnell OR Karter Shaw |
Cade McConnell OR Karter Shaw |
|
RIGHT GUARD |
Quinn Carroll |
Ashton Beers |
Jackson Ruschmeyer OR Phillip Daniels |
|
RIGHT TACKLE |
Martes Lewis |
JJ Guedet |
Reese Tripp? |
As you can see above, the Gophers' offensive line is quite set when it comes to first string and second string. Beyond that, there are surely some questions but overall, Williams will be sitting in the fourth-string position in all likelihood at whichever position the Gophers start him at, most likely center.
With how raw Williams is, it's likely that the Minnesota native doesn't see the field consistently till the back half of his second or even third year on campus. It's going to take some patience and developmental time with Williams to get him to where he needs to be to get on the field. But with enough patience given, the results could be quite favorable for the Gophers.
2023 Outlook: Pure developmental year (redshirt)
Long-term outlook: Potential high-quality starter if given time, should be at the very least a quality backup for the Gophers during his career.
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