Tennessee football adds commitment from elite 2022 Georgia RB Justin Williams

The early signing period got started off with a bang for Tennessee football. One of the Vols’ top targets for their 2022 class, a running back out of Georgia, committed to them and then signed before the morning was truly off and running.

Justin Williams, a four-star on Rivals and ESPN but a three-star on 247Sports, became the second running back in UT’s 2022 class. Coming out of East Paulding High School in Dallas, Ga., Williams stands in the range of 5’11” to 6’0″ and weighs between 200 and 206 pounds.

Initially a commitment to the West Virginia Mountaineers on July 5, Williams decommitted from there on Nov. 17. It came down to the Vols and Auburn Tigers to land him, and he announced his decision to join Tennessee football Wednesday morning on Twitter.

Obviously, with the transfer of Tiyon Evans, the Vols needed to restock their depth here for the future. However, they have a ton of talent there already. Jabari Small is now a proven back, Jaylen Wright is a rising superstar, and Len’Neth Whitehead is a reliable power back.

Adding Williams to that group, though, should make for an amazing collection of skill backs in 2022. Given the depth there, it’s unclear if he will play early, but he definitely makes sure the position is set for years to come.

At his size, Williams is more of a complete back than most. His profile is probably similar to Small more than it is Wright or Whitehead, as he can be an all-purpose back or a power back. Here’s a look at his highlight reel.

As you can see, Williams has great breakaway speed, but he also has impressive vision, evidenced by his ability to immediately hit the hole on run plays up the middle. That’ll be a huge asset in college, especially in a system like Josh Heupel’s that uses such runs to set up the pass.

Joining Williams as the other running back committed in the class is three-star Dylan Sampson, who also signed on Wednesday. With these two, Tennessee football is really deep at the position now, and that will allow for a lot of creativity from Heupel.