Florida Football Recruiting: Izaiah Williams could be a sneaky speedster

Florida football just offered three-star wide receiver Izaiah Williams. As we have chronicled before, Billy Napier’s mantra is four-star and above, so it may seem like a hallow offer to a guy that has been mostly under the radar.

But one look at the film on Williams and his verified track times, and there are comparisons to made with another freshman receiver that Napier grabbed in the 2023 class.

Florida Football: The watch don’t lie

Williams is listed as 6’0″ and 160 pounds. That by itself is a big reason he is ranked 541st overall by On3 and is the 85th-ranked wide receiver in the nation.

He has offers from Miami, FSU, LSU, Georgia, and Michigan, among others.

There is also not much film to go off of with Williams. From his sophomore year, he showcased kick-returning abilities and his play at receiver. His catches were fine for a high school receiver but not anything Earth-shattering.

He doesn’t have footage from his junior season, as he missed most of the year due to a collarbone injury.

The reason, however, that Billy Napier and the rest of college football are starting to take a look at Williams is because of his speed. The catches on film weren’t overall difficult in part because he could run himself open most of the time.

His speed doesn’t pop on film like he is shot out of a cannon, but instead, he covers the ground with a smooth stride and always gets away.

His track times verify this as he has run the 100-meter dash this season in 10.98 seconds and is ranked 9th in Florida for class 1A. By comparison, incoming Florida Gators freshman Eugene Wilson had a high school PR of 11.36.

More importantly, he ran 4.46 second in the 40-yard dash two weeks ago at the UA Next Orlando camp, the fastest time there. It’s not an accident the day after the camp the South Carolina and North Carolina both offered Williams.

Williams will be an interesting one to track heading into his senior season. If he can stay healthy, he should be able to put up film that could bump him into the top 300 overall when combined with his verified speed.