Kasen Williams -- Sparkling Diamond in the Rough?

710 ESPN host and former Husky grad Danny O’Neil wrote a good piece today, reminding Seahawks fans just who they have in WR Kasen Williams. That and his performance last night was an excellent reminder for me personally as to just who the Seahawks have in Williams. For those who might not be aware, allow me to add on a bit to what O’Neil wrote today.

Kasen Williams … 6’1” 219 pounds was born and raised in Sammamish, WA. A local boy all the way. Coming out of Skyline High School in Sammamish, he was considered not just one of the very best football players … but one of the very best athletes to ever come out of the State of Washington.

He helped lead Skyline to the state title game four times, winning 3 state championships.

As a sophomore … he won the 4A state championship in the high jump (6’10”) … took 2nd in the triple jump … and took 3rd in the long jump.

As a senior … he won the 4A state title in the triple jump, setting the state record with a leap of 50’ 9 ¾”. He also won the state high jump championship (6’10”) … and the state long jump title as well (24’ 5 ¾”).

Coming out of high school Kasen Williams ....

was honored by the Seattle times as their "boy's athlete of the year" 3 years in a row.

was named the Parade All America National Player of the year -- the very first Washington player to ever receive that honor.

was named the MaxPrep.com’s National Player of the Year (best athlete in all sports) for the 2010-2011 season.

He received 1st Team All American honors by USA Today, ESPN, MaxPreps.com … and received a whole host of other honors.

Scout.com rated him the #2 wide receiver in all the country coming out of high school … and the #22 prospect overall (all positions).

He was a true blue chip player in every sense of the word -- one of the very best and most productive football players in the history of Washington State High School Football

Source: http://www.gohuskies.com/news/2013/4/18/208224317.aspx?path=football

Abundant Dreams Diverted …

Kasen Williams was one of the nation’s top recruit coming out of high school and the UW Huskies were overjoyed to land him. As a true Freshman, Williams saw action in 13 games in 2011 and was the Huskies main punt returner that season. He had a great Apple Cup that year, catching 5 passes for 74 yards and 2 TD’s against the Cougars.

His Sophomore season (2012) was a breakout year for Williams, as he caught 77 passes (3rd most in UW History for a season) for 878 yards (8th most in a season) and 6 TD. He earned All-Pac 10 Honorable Mention honors.

Everything came to a screeching halt for the young Williams after that. In Week 9 of his Junior Season (2013) against Cal, Williams endured a season and potentially career ending injury, breaking his fibula. Though he returned for his Senior season and played in every game, Williams was clearly not the same player, as he finished his Husky career with a career low 20 receptions for 189 yards and 2 TD.

Kasen Williams was not even invited to the NFL combine. Nearly no one even gave him a sniff. Alas, his name was never called on Draft Day of 2015. The Cincinnati Bengals signed him as an UDFA after the draft, but cut him shortly afterwards after he failed his physical.

The Seahawks signed him to a rookie contract and invited him to minicamp in 2015. Over the past couple of seasons, he has been on and off the Seahawks practice squad and roster.

And now here in 2017 … a full 4 years after he suffered that injury … Kasen Williams appears to these (and other trained eyes) to have regained his old form. He’s been opening up a lot of eyes, including those of Samuel Gold, whose work is well known by many here at Seahawks.net …
[youtube]QmVzX9yr-4E[/youtube]

Yes, it’s only 1 game – and a preseason game at that. Agreed. But, I seem to recall a certain rookie quarterback who had a real breakout game during the preseason in 2012, opened a lot of eyes as well, and never looked back. Although it may seem like he’s an old vet who’s been around a long time and is long past his prime, Kasen Williams is only 24 years old – the same age as a lot of these rookies. Kasen Williams is a guy to definitely keep an eye on as the Preseason wears on. If he’s truly regained his old form, this is a wide-out who (if he had remained healthy) had enough pure God-given talent to be a 1st Round Draft Choice and a potential #1 or #2 Wide Receiver. If he continues to dazzle and to put on performances like he gave last night, he’s going to make it darned near impossible for the Hawks to cut him this time. Stay tuned folks. The Seahawks may very well have found themselves a genuine diamond in the rough.

Excellent post/write up.

Thank you for taking the time.

He has all of the ability in the world, except staying healthy up to this point.
If he and P-rich could stay healthy Seattle would have one of the top WR corps
In the NFL.

Hawkscanner - you are a diamond on this board. Thank you!

Health is overrated.

But I like the potential and the production so far.

Someone like that would be very valuable in the playoffs if he can do that against the 1s.

Serious question that doesn't really question his ability but our system and how the QB is directed

How many of those four passes in the video does Russell throw? Playing "non-turnover football" as we do I seriously doubt more than one is theown.

So a good receiver making catches when blanketed is maybe a great receiver on many teams, but to me they need more separation to be given the opportunity to succeed in our system. If anything it reflects poorly on our system but it is why players like Lockett is so valuable

I hope I am wrong and that we see more of those throws and yes more risk is allowed towards the sideline but still .....

Hawks had a receiver blow up in the Superbowl and he wasn't kept around.

A preseason game against 2nd stringers means even less.

We'll see in the next 3 games

Kasen Williams has now had a couple years in the Seahawks system, watching and learning from guys like Baldwin, and yes, Kearse, who is a very smart football player. So by now he should actually have some "polish" in his 3rd year as a pro. If his body is finally right, recovered and healthy, he could not only make the roster, but have a breakout year.

My memories of Williams are from that Apple Cup where he absolutely abused the Cougar DBs, who simply could not stop his athleticism and he had a couple spectacular plays that put the Huskies over the top.

Kevin Smith? Where is he now? Looks like it's finally, truly, Kasen's turn this year.

mikeak":34wgfrrn said:

Serious question that doesn't really question his ability but our system and how the QB is directed

How many of those four passes in the video does Russell throw? Playing "non-turnover football" as we do I seriously doubt more than one is theown.

So a good receiver making catches when blanketed is maybe a great receiver on many teams, but to me they need more separation to be given the opportunity to succeed in our system. If anything it reflects poorly on our system but it is why players like Lockett is so valuable

I hope I am wrong and that we see more of those throws and yes more risk is allowed towards the sideline but still .....

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For me, as I even review the film clips (courtesy of Samuel Gold's excellent Youtube piece that I referenced above), I'm seeing an enormously talented receiver who just might be finally turning the corner and having everything come together for him. It's not merely in this past game alone that he's stood out -- he's been doing this in practices as well. Gold notes that the day he was at Seahawks practice (8/11), Russell Wilson was 2/2 to Kasen Williams including a diving catch down the sideline. He also 2/2 from Boykin as well including a fade pass down the sideline.

I can't speak for Russell Wilson (DUH, obviously), but if I were him ... and I'm seeing a receiver like Williams (who is tall, strong, clearly runs great routes, gets separation, has good, strong hands, and incredible leaping ability) consistently be able to make play after play ... that would give me a lot of confidence to throw to him. Even if he were covered and going up against a quality CB, I'd be feeling that a guy like that will win far more of those battles than he loses -- he will make that catch. There aren't many receivers in this league with his kind of talent.

I know it's just 1 Preseason Game ... but Williams is certainly a guy who is most definitely on my radar screen. And after Sunday especially, you know he's on the radar screen of Pete Carroll and the rest of the coaching staff as well. We'll see what happens with him for sure. Preseason has just begun.

olyfan63":3g0i5n3s said:

Kasen Williams has now had a couple years in the Seahawks system, watching and learning from guys like Baldwin, and yes, Kearse, who is a very smart football player. So by now he should actually have some "polish" in his 3rd year as a pro. If his body is finally right, recovered and healthy, he could not only make the roster, but have a breakout year.

My memories of Williams are from that Apple Cup where he absolutely abused the Cougar DBs, who simply could not stop his athleticism and he had a couple spectacular plays that put the Huskies over the top.

Kevin Smith? Where is he now? Looks like it's finally, truly, Kasen's turn this year.

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You and I are on the exact same page. That is precisely the point that I was going to bring up with him. People forget that this young guy's college career was in a lot of ways cut short with that leg injury. In many ways, I guess we can say that he was in a similar position to another receiver who's also fighting to make this roster -- Cyril Grayson. Grayson was a very talented receiver in high school as well, but didn't have any college coaching nor even played college football (due to NCAA rules). He ended up learning from just hanging around the LSU receivers and coaching staff. Grayson had talent -
he just needed coaching and experience.

Williams is ahead of Grayson in that he had coaching in the UW System and actual in game experience - his college career was in a lot of ways cut short because of that injury. He has all the talent in the world ... he just needed to get healthy and to be in a system and surrounded by coaches and players who could give him polish and show him how to maximize that talent out on the field.

As you pointed out, Kasen has now had a couple of years in the Seahawks system. He's been afforded time to not only finally get healthy and to receive top conditioning ... but also to get some real NFL coaching. Williams is an amazingly talented receiver who has shown that when he's healthy can make plays. I don't know if he will honestly keep this up as the Preseason rolls along. I do know that I'm extremely encouraged and excited by what I'm seeing from Kasen Williams. Might the Seahawks be seeing the emergence of a true big play receiver right before their eyes? Could be. We'll see what happens moving forward.

>Kearse...if it comes down to it this is the logical cut...

Cyrus12":3nhurw4i said:

>Kearse...if it comes down to it this is the logical cut...

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I would tend to agree with you that Kearse would be a "logical" cut except for 2 things:

1) As has been brought up a million times, the Hawks would not receive any salary cap relief for this year were they to cut Kearse.

2) Say what you will, but Jermaine Kearse has the trust of Russell Wilson. Sure Kearse drops a lot of passes, but he's also made his share of big time clutch plays over the years as well.

That said, If I was the one making the decisions ... and looking at this receiver competition completely objectively (just picking whom I see as the 5 best receivers who have the most in terms of talent and upside), this is what I would go with ...

1) Doug Baldwin
2) Tyler Lockett
3) Amara Darboh
4) Kasen Williams
5) David Moore

I don't think the Hawks will cut Kearse (for the reasons noted above), but I would. I'd also let Richardson go as well. Richardson is a very talented WR, but in the end, I just don't know if he can be relied upon to stay healthy and to consistently be on the field. Kasen Williams would make this team ... and in the end when it all shakes out, I believe that he probably actually will.

mikeak":2js6np2z said:

Serious question that doesn't really question his ability but our system and how the QB is directed

How many of those four passes in the video does Russell throw? Playing "non-turnover football" as we do I seriously doubt more than one is theown.

So a good receiver making catches when blanketed is maybe a great receiver on many teams, but to me they need more separation to be given the opportunity to succeed in our system. If anything it reflects poorly on our system but it is why players like Lockett is so valuable

I hope I am wrong and that we see more of those throws and yes more risk is allowed towards the sideline but still .....

Click to expand...

Good question, but watching Wiliams make those catches reminded me of Chris Matthews in XLIX. When Russ develops trust with a receiver, he'll throw it up to him.

Locks
1.Baldwin
2. Lockett
3. Richardson
4. Kearse

Bubble (pick 2)
5. Darboh*
6. McEvoy
7. Williams*

Practice Squad (pick 2)
8. Lawler*
9. Moore
10. J.D McKissic*
11. Grayson

Would much rather have Baldwin, Kasem, P-Rich (sounds like he'll be back week 1 or 2) and Lockett ahead of Kearse.

Kasen Williams is also responsible for two 5* rankings handed out to what turned out to be mediocre QBs in Jake Heaps and Max Browne....Both of which were "can't miss" super star 5 star qbs..... both of which didn't win the job in college ((BYU and USC respectively) and ultimately started the transfer rodeo......

Turns out dropping 5 steps back and chucking it deep to Kasen wasn't a transferable skill. lol


Im really interested to see how the WR room ends up looking.

Such a great problem to have. Very deep at WR and RB

Jerhawk":3r0syz4t said:

Good question, but watching Wiliams make those catches reminded me of Chris Matthews in XLIX. When Russ develops trust with a receiver, he'll throw it up to him.

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Good example and yes – agree that it showed that he may throw more into traffic. The examples from this years practices and pre-season should theoretically build up the same trust

FlyHawksFly":3r0syz4t said:

Russ is probably one of the best deep ball QBs in the league.

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I agree with this. My point was not coming from a skills standpoint simply that we often see RW not take the throw to even a single covered Graham and other receivers that we have confidence in making the catch. It is purely because of the strategy that we rather punt and just play the slow running game style football. It is a running offense – built on running the ball and slowly moving the chains with some open shots downfield to open things up. The open shots cannot be turnovers in our system.

I think we have TREMENDOUS skills at the WR and TE position now. I think we have RBs with great hands and I hope we will get more aggressive about moving the ball downfield. Heck I would love some no-huddle football. I just haven’t seen much of this “aggressiveness” yet.

In regards to Kearse – no there won’t be much cap relief there, but it is also a sunk cost. The money is spent no matter what. So if you have a rookie receiver for a few hundred thousand you don’t spend a lot extra this year and you do save a lot next year. Kearse will IMHO make the team if they decide that he brings enough value knowing the system, run blocking vs the potential upside of young guy that they don’t think would stick to the PS.

To me, he is a bigger Golden Tate. Definitely all potential as of now but that's what he can become if not more.

Both can return punts and both can play the jump ball really well.

I liked the opening game emphasis on sideline passes to widen the field of play. As the preseason continues, it will be telling to see how well it holds up verses veteran defensive backs.