WKU Football: Analyzing Carson Williams’ Draft Potential

Perhaps one of the most surprising things to happen to this year was seeing senior forward Carson Williams announce that he will forgo the…

Perhaps one of the most surprising things to happen to this year was seeing senior forward Carson Williams announce that he will forgo the NIT Tournament and work with the football team to prepare for Pro Day.

Not sure about you guys but it definitely took me by surprise. But since the decision, it’s easy to see why NFL scouts are very interested in his football potential.

The most interesting thing with this situation is that this isn’t even the first time this has happened at WKU where a star basketball player ends up trying their hand at pro football. It’s actually happened twice now in the past six years.

Local Hilltopper legend George Fant played four years of basketball and was able to become a blocking tight end for the football team the year after his basketball career ended. He didn’t really get a ton of playing time but with his size, mental toughness, and having that full season grind of football under him led to him being an undrafted free agent in the NFL and ended up becoming a Seattle Seahawk.

You know the rest of the story.

From there, he became a starter and now has a solid three-year $30 million contract with the New York Jets. Fant defied all odds and made the transition from basketball player to NFL starter.

One that you might have forgotten about was when star forward Justin Johnson tried his hand at football in 2017 as well. Johnson was working with then tight end coach Ryan Mahaffey on becoming a football player. It was something he really wanted to try and thoroughly enjoyed but with some players leaving at the start of basketball season, it was clear where he was needed the most and never took the field with the football team in the 2017 season. Johnson now plays professionally in basketball overseas.

So where does Williams stand as potentially the next basketball to football prospect at WKU?

Williams is listed at 6’4” and 254 lbs and is working out as a tight end/offensive line prospect in this year’s upcoming NFL Draft. He signed with The Sports Entertainment Group in Washington D.C.

One thing I found very interesting from a source close to WKU Football was that Williams could’ve technically used the COVID extra year of eligibility to play football on the Hill this fall if he wanted to but due to him already signing with an agent, he is no longer eligible to play as a college athlete. To me, it sounds like he is all in on playing professionally and wants to strike while the iron is hot.

If Williams’ basketball mentality transfers over to football, he will most certainly be a force to be reckoned with. The way he always laid it on the line going up for rebounds and drawing charges on players much bigger than him which shows he’s fearless and not scared of contact, which is pretty crucial for a hard-hitting contact sport like football.

Even with the short turnaround period from basketball season to football, he seemed to have made a great impression at Pro Day.

One of the most sought after things that every pro team wants is size and athleticism and Williams seems to meet the standard of most tight ends in the league. Obviously the biggest thing he’ll be working on is learning plays and running routes if he gets more interest as a tight end but he could bulk up and add some weight if a team really wants him as an offensive lineman. Fant added over 30 lbs making that transition to football as an offensive lineman and if the opportunity is right for Williams, he could as well.

But how will teams evaluate him with no actual game tape to go by? Other than Pro Day, how much of a shot does he really have to impress scouts?

I reached out to the guys at NFL Draft Diamonds on Twitter who have done a great job of evaluating prospects, including several from WKU and asked them about Williams and his pro potential.

Their response was,

“When looking at a player transitioning from another sport you are grading athleticism and trying to see what position they would help contribute on your team. At 6'5 and 240 pounds he has a few options in my opinion. One he could play tight end, secondly would be defensive end. So you would want to put him through workouts to see if he has the raw abilities to play at the next level. In this case if he impresses you by running routes, or catching then you have an option to either give him a shot or not. There are many players who have transitioned from basketball to the NFL. NFL teams love athletic players, and if he can show off his athleticism he could very well get a shot. At this point it will be harder than before. Last year rosters were cut down to 80 players for camp and the camp was virtual. So even if you were athletic you could not display it. He could definitely get a shot. Remember this, NFL coaches always feel they can convert a player into something, because that is what coaching is. It will be interesting to see what happens moving forward, but if he can put up good numbers he could become the next NFL project.”

We’re thankful they took time to answer our question and if you’d like to check out more from them and look up the Hilltoppers they have covered you can check out their website.

Williams may very well become the next WKU basketball to football project to make the league. I believe he has the size, athleticism, and motor do be looked at by a few teams. While I don’t see him being drafted, I think he has the potential to land on a team as a UDFA and work his way up. If his Pro Day was of any indication, his next steps after basketball are now before him.