Notre Dame landed another Indianapolis product when safety Mykelti Williams joined the Irish this summer, the freshman lending some much needed depth to the secondary. Hailing from Warren Central, the same program that brought Notre Dame Sheldon Day, Williams’ might not contribute as quickly as Day did, but he’ll have a chance to compete for a spot in the two deep behind Max Redfield at free safety.
On campus since June, Williams needs to learn Brian VanGorder’s NFL defense, a scheme that puts a lot of pressure on safeties, making training camp likely a drink-from-the-firehose experience. But Williams is athletic, can run and showed a nice nose for the football in high school, adding a promising piece of developmental depth for the Irish.
Let’s take a closer look at the Indianapolis native.
MYKELTI WILLIAMS
5’11”, 200 lbs.
Freshman, No. 18, S
RECRUITING PROFILE
A top 250 player according to Rivals, Williams had a nice offer list, picking the Irish over Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota. He was the Indianapolis Star’s Player of the Year, and a first-team All-State player.
FUTURE POTENTIAL
Williams isn’t the biggest guy you’ll see at safety, so he’ll need to depend on his athleticism and a nose for the football. Getting a quick look at him at practice on Tuesday, you can tell he’s still processing everything he’s learning, but he looks like the type of smooth athlete Notre Dame’s done a good job of finding.
Williams was a versatile high school player, a do-everything player on both offense and defense. The Irish have already had success converting Nick Coleman, a high-profile running back in high school, to a competitive freshman cornerback. On Signing Day, Kelly talked about Williams as a versatile safety, the type of player who can work in both man and zone schemes. Without a blue chip pedigree or uber-elite offer, it’s tough to know how quickly he can become that, but again—it’s hard not to trust this staff’s evaluation process.
CRYSTAL BALL
While grad student Matthias Farley has been getting No. 2 reps at free safety, you’ve got to think that Williams will battle Nicky Baratti to back up Redfield with Shaun Crawford going down and Farley likely locking in to that nickel corner role.
There’s a chance that Williams could win the backup job, though it’s not the easiest system in the world to grasp, especially after watching last year’s secondary struggle to fully figure out the system. Add to the mental hurdles that Williams isn’t the biggest guy in the world and maybe there’s an argument for spending the year watching and learning.
If I’m eyeballing the safety position, I see Elijah Shumate, Avery Sebastian and Drue Tranquill capable of playing strong safety and Redfield out front at free. I just haven’t seen enough from Baratti (who played as a freshman before spending the better part of two seasons lost to shoulder injuries) or Williams to know if they’re good enough to get on the field.
All things being equal, I think Williams saves a year of eligibility, especially with Devin Butler being a better fit for safety than cover cornerback. But Williams showing a nose for the football could change all of that in a hurry.
THE 2015 IRISH A-to-Z
Josh Adams, RB
Josh Barajas, OLB
Nicky Baratti, S
Alex Bars, OL
Asmar Bilal, OLB
Hunter Bivin, OL
Grant Blankenship, DE
Jonathan Bonner, DE
Miles Boykin, WR
Justin Brent, WR
Greg Bryant, RB
Devin Butler, CB
Jimmy Byrne, OL
Daniel Cage, DL
Amir Carlisle, RB
Nick Coleman, DB
Te’von Coney, LB
Shaun Crawford, DB
Scott Daly, LS
Sheldon Day, DL
Michael Deeb, LB
Micah Dew-Treadway, DL
Steve Elmer, RG
Matthias Farley, DB
Nicco Fertitta, DB
Tarean Folston, RB
Will Fuller, WR
Jarrett Grace, LB
Jalen Guyton, WR
Mark Harrell, OL
Jay Hayes, DL
Mike Heuerman, TE
Kolin Hill, DE
Tristen Hoge, C
Corey Holmes, WR
Chase Hounshell, TE
Torii Hunter, Jr. WR
Alizé Jones, TE
Jarron Jones, DL
DeShone Kizer, QB
Tyler Luatua, TE
Cole Luke, CB
Nick Martin, C
Greer Martini, LB
Jacob Matuska, DL
Mike McGlinchey, OT
Colin McGovern, OL
Peter Mokwuah, DL
John Montelus, OL
Nyles Morgan, LB
Sam Mustipher, OL
Quenton Nelson, OL
Tyler Newsome, P
Romeo Okwara, DE
James Onwualu, LB
C.J. Prosise, WR/RB
Doug Randolph, LB/DE
Max Redfield, S
Corey Robinson, WR
Trevor Ruhland, OL
CJ Sanders, WR
Joe Schmidt, LB
Avery Sebastian, S
Elijah Shumate, S
Jaylon Smith, LB
Durham Smythe, TE
Equanimeous St. Brown, WR
Ronnie Stanley, LT
Elijah Taylor, DL
Brandon Tiassum, DL
Jerry Tillery, DL
Drue Tranquill, S
Andrew Trumbetti, DE
John Turner, S
Nick Watkins, CB
Nic Weishar, TE
Ashton White, CB
Dexter Williams, RB
