Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Williams is something of a local hero in South Florida. He won a state championship at Miramar High School in 2009. He wasn’t highly recruited out of high school, and ended up signing a letter of intent with the University of Memphis. As a true freshman, Williams won the starting quarterback position. He started 10 games that season and while his stats weren’t spectacular, they were good enough to get the Memphis fan base excited.
Williams wasn’t happy at Memphis. He was homesick. In addition, he wasn’t thrilled about the direction Memphis head coach Larry Porter was taking the team. He transferred back home to Miami.
Williams played sparingly last season backing up star-in-the-making Stephen Morris. However, in the time he did play, he looked solid. He replaced an injured Morris against North Carolina last season and finished with 80 yards on 9-of-13 passing. He nearly led the Canes to a comeback in that game.
Willams is clearly a different player than Morris. For one thing, Williams is a good four inches taller. His size is imposing and allows him to easily see over the pass rush. His arm strength is also not as good as Morris. Williams is much better at the short-to-intermediate throws. Williams is also very bright, and approaches the game in a much more cerebral way.
Should Morris go down to injury next season, Williams will be a capable back up. While Canes fans don’t want to think about Morris being hurt, they can rest assured with Williams holding down the fort.
Chris Cunningham is a College Football Writer for www.RantSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter @cunn1431.
