Colts add David Williams to Practice Squad

The Colts announced today that they have added RB David Williams to the practice squad, and dropped RB Bruce Anderson III in a corresponding move.

Williams played his college ball at South Carolina (his first 3 years) and Arkansas (Senior year). He averaged 4.8 yards per carry for his college career. Williams was sparingly used at South Carolina, never receiving even 90 rushing attempts in a season. His senior year, however, he rushed 116 times for 656 yards, averaging 5.6 yards a carry and scoring 8 TD’s. He also added 10 catches for 171 yards and 2 more TD’s. Apparently, Denver saw enough from Williams’ senior season that they decided to spend a 7th round pick on him. Unfortunately for Williams, Denver also brought in Colorado rookie Philip Lindsay as an undrafted free agent. Lindsay’s well-documented success made Williams expendable, and he’s bounced around from practice squad to practice squad ever since.

Physical Attributes:

Williams has good size, at 6’0” and 225 lbs. He ran a 4.50 40 at Arkansas’ pro day, and he also displayed good strength by racking up 21 reps on the bench press at 225 lbs. You can see Williams’ ability to shed would-be tacklers here:

Williams also flashed some ability as a receiver out of the backfield, as displayed here:

In addition to his running and receiving skills, Williams also flashes ability as a pass protector, something that all NFL coaches value. Watch how Williams is able to block one rusher, then come off of him and pick up a second, allowing the QB to not only avoid a hit, but pick up a big first down, as well:

Conclusion:

Williams is a guy who appears to have some talent, and some skills that translate well to the NFL. He doesn’t have a lot of wear on the tires, with only 341 total touches in his college career.

All in all, this isn’t a HUGE move. Barring injury, it’s unlikely that Williams will even see the active roster. That said, it’s the kind of move that we’re becoming accustomed to with Chris Ballard. Ballard loves to churn the bottom of the roster and the practice squad, adding guys with intriguing skill sets, while moving on from players who don’t show much.

Thanks to Sayre Bedinger of PredominatelyOrange.com for info and videos of Williams in action.