Tennessee football: Five Vols who suffered from no spring game
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Defensive back. Junior. Desmond Williams. player. 839. 1
5’11” 190 pounds
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A junior college commitment to Tennessee football, Desmond “Dee” Williams committed to the Vols out of East Central Community College in Decatur, Miss., which is in Newtown County. Before heading to Mississippi, Williams came out of Georgia’s Monroe County. A Forsyth, Ga., kid, he graduated from Mary Persons High School.
He went through all that to end up on Rocky Top with expectations of contributing immediately, and he got his chance immediately. The Vols have to replace Alontae Taylor and Theo Jackson at cornerback and nickel, the two spots Williams can play.
Meanwhile, this spring, their two projected replacements, Kamal Hadden and Brandon Turnage, were out, along with another projected starter, Warren Burrell, and an up-and-comer in De’Shawn Rucker. Since Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets transfer Wesley Walker and Ohio State Buckeyes transfer Andre Turrentine won’t arrive until the summer, this spring was all for Williams.
Apparently, though, he wasn’t able to cash in. This is why the first guy on our list, Christian Charles, moved over to cornerback. Williams needed to stand out, and he didn’t. Given his experience, though, the spring game could have been his moment to shine.
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With Josh Heupel and Tennessee football not having a spring game, Williams enters August firmly behind all the other guys competing. They’ll get more looks since they missed the spring, so Williams needed to show out. When he didn’t, not having an Orange and White game to alleviate that may have turned into a killer.