Through two full weeks of spring practice, the Oregon football team clearly has some questions in need of answering before next fall. With the departure of arguably the most physically gifted player on the team last year in tight end Ed Dickson, the Ducks will have a big hole to fill in his absence.
Dickson corralled 42 receptions for 551 yards and six touchdowns last season with his backup, junior David Paulson, seeing the field for limited minutes throughout the year. Paulson, however, now looks to be the early favorite to replace his former mentor.
But if there’s one person standing in the way of Paulson holding down the starting spot next season, it’s junior college transfer Brandon Williams. But despite having all the physical tools — his 6-foot-4-inch, 226-pound frame has drawn comparisons to Dickson — Williams still has to battle learning Oregon’s complex offense on the fly.
“The only way for those (new) guys to learn is to get reps at something,” tight end coach Tom Osborne said. “In the process, when guys are learning, there’s going to be a lot of mistakes made and sometimes it’s because they’re not totally confident into what they’re doing until they can get to that point.”
Osborne went on to say that Williams in particular has made more mistakes during the first two weeks of practice than he normally would, though the blame is not entirely his own.
“It’s new,” Osborne said. “And the difference is the pace we go, we don’t have time to call a play in the huddle.”
In Oregon’s no-huddle offense, players look to the sidelines for the upcoming play. A coach with a red wristband on each arm uses a variety of hand signals to relay the play onto the field. But when you’ve only been working with the playbook for two weeks, things can get confusing, leaving Williams often times lined up in the wrong position.
Williams was a first-team NJCAA All-American for Joliet Junior College following the 2009 season, leading his team with 56 receptions for 908 yards and seven scores. He collected more than a handful of honors during his time at Joliet, and also played on the school’s basketball team.
“He’s a great competitor. He wants to get better,” Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said. “He’s been a model kid for everything he does. He’s early to everything he’s at. He’s exactly what you want in a football player, it’s just a matter of getting him some quality reps.”
Getting reps has come easily for Williams during the spring with the projected No. 2 tight end senior Malachi Lewis going down with a hamstring injury. Lewis’ career has been a quiet one at best for the Ducks, leaving the door wide open for Williams.
“(He’s) very impressive,” senior quarterback Nate Costa said. “He’s one of those guys who when you come in you kind of freeze up when you want to learn things, but he’s one of those guys who goes full-go.
“You’ll see him knock guys on the ground; he’ll knock his own offensive players on the ground. I think I saw him knock a coach on the ground.”
The question of understanding the offense isn’t one that will be answered overnight for Williams, but as long as the effort is still where it needs to be, he’ll be in contention for the starting job come September.
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