4-star WR Jameson Williams signs with Ohio State on National Signing Day

Following in the footsteps of Ezekiel Elliott, Cameron Brown, and Kamryn Babb, another playmaker from the Saint Louis area will soon call Columbus his college stomping grounds.

Verbally committing to OSU in the end of September over scholarship opportunities at Alabama, Nebraska, Oregon, UCLA, and many other top notch programs, four-star wide receiver Jameson Williams can finally shut the door on his high school career and focus on his next step to fulfilling his NFL dreams after signing his National Letter of Intent with the Ohio State Buckeyes football squad on Wednesday.

Considered the second prospect in Missouri, and 140th overall for the class of 2019, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Under Armour All-American has definitely earned his accolades. Over the last two seasons for Cardinal Ritter College Prep, he’s accounted for well over 100 receptions, 2,600 yards and 43 touchdowns.

Not just a standout on the gridiron for the Lions, Williams shows off his exceptional speed while on the track too. As a junior, Jameson took home quite a bit of hardware, placing in the 400-meter dash (48.68 seconds), 300 hurdles (37.47), 100 (10.94) and 200 (21.53) during the Missouri Class 3 state track meet last year.

Similar to Chris Olave this season, Williams should get an opportunity to help the Buckeyes in a number of different ways.

With newly promoted head coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State coaching staff looking to replace numerous bodies in the rotation at wide receiver, Williams might find himself seeing the field sooner rather than later at OSU. Also needing new faces on special teams, his speed could help his chances to see his name climb up the depth chart once he arrives in the Columbus.

Scouting Report

“Do you remember how it felt to watch Braxton Miller run? The constant thought in the back of your head that no matter what happened, Braxton could, and absolutely would, find his way out of it and score a touchdown? Well, that’s Jameson Williams’ entire thing. That may sound like an overstatement, but no, that’s really just what he does.

He’s an electric, sometimes completely unstoppable, playmaker. He isn’t a particularly refined route runner (although he may be, but his high school route tree is a screen, a five yard in, and a go), but he really doesn’t need to be. More than half of his highlights come on screen plays, and he just has an innate ability to turn those underneath plays into huge gains, and more often than not, touchdowns. Hell, he had 36 receptions last year, and 19 of them were touchdowns.

That all makes it sound like Jameson is a one-dimensional player, which I really don’t think that he is. He’s got very good hands on the passes that he does see down the field, and seems capable of tracking throws and pulling them in over his shoulder. The reason most of his receptions are behind the line of scrimmage or under five yards isn’t because he can’t do anything else, it’s that there’s no real reason to do anything else. If he can turn any screen pass into a touchdown, why risk a throw down the field?

His track speed, vision, and elusiveness make him a natural fit for Ohio State’s H-back position, and while he won’t be able to subsist only on screens and underneath passes at Ohio State, there is a pretty easy comparison to make for him. In fact, it almost feels too easy to say that as Parris Campbell leaves after this year, the next evolution of his position will arrive in Williams.

That’s probably not far off. Williams plays a lot like Campbell does. That’s a good thing! Parris Campbell wasn’t as developed coming out of high school as Williams is now, and with a capable receiver coach for the foreseeable future, there’s no reason to think that Williams can’t become even better. He’s got a great ceiling, and even if he’s never going to be the technician that Garrett Wilson is, he’s a damn good athlete, and as much as I hate this cliche, he just a natural football player. He’ll be great in Columbus.”

-Patrick Mayhorn, Land-Grant Holy Land

Highlights