Ohio State football: Jameson Williams is an unsung key player

The Juice Man may not have the gaudy offensive stats so far in his career, but he has made an impact on this Ohio State football team. His offensive stats will come soon.

The Ohio State football team has an embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position. Not only do they have the best receiver in college football in Chris Olave, but they have the second-best receiver in Garrett Wilson. They also have the number one recruit at wide receiver from the last three classes on their roster now.

All of these players get a lot of hype and attention, and for good reason. But Jameson Williams deserves to get some attention as well. Williams is a junior who hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to showcase his offensive prowess because of the greatness of both Olave and Wilson.

Williams has shown his greatness in other ways. Despite only catching 9 passes for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns last season and only having 15 catches and 3 touchdowns in his career, he has made an impact. He is regarded as the best special teams player Ohio State has.

Williams’ work as a gunner on punt coverage will never get a lot of attention, but it deserves it. His speed down the field prevents and punt returner from getting space to break a big return. The same thing is true on kickoff coverage.

The offensive stats will improve in 2021. Williams is the fastest guy on this team, and that makes him an incredible deep threat. Even if he doesn’t get a ton of catches, his speed over the top opens up routes underneath for other players to gain big chunks of yardage.

Williams might not get the chance to fully showcase his receiving skills until 2022 when Olave, and maybe Wilson, is gone. But make no mistake about it; Williams will be a key part of this Ohio State offense next season.