Dallas safety not naming favorites

Junior to Watch: Desmond Williams

School: Euless (Texas) Trinity

Position: Safety

Size and speed: Williams is 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds. He has been timed at 4.5-seconds in the 40-yard dash and has a 32.5 inch vertical leap, 250-pound bench press and a 375 pound squat.

Honors: Williams was an all-district and all-Northeast Tarrant County pick as a junior.

Statistics: Williams had 43 solo tackles, 42 assists, six pass breakups, four tackles for a loss, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries as a junior.

Favorite Schools: Williams didn’t want to name any favorites but said that the usual suspects of Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and many others were recruiting him heavily.

Skinny: All the talk last season about the Euless (Texas) Trinity revolved around five-star offensive guard Ofa Mohetau and for good reason. The standout offensive lineman was not one of the area’s best, but also one of the nation’s best. But along the way one of his junior teammates was racking up tackles and making a name for himself as one of the state of Texas’ best for the Class of 2004.

Recruiting fans, meet Euless Trinity safety Desmond Williams, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound tackling machine that will remind many fans of some of the top safeties in the nation from 2003.

Last season in the state of Texas, blue-chip safeties were all over the place. Names like Tony Cade, Darien Williams and Ashton Youboty lead the way, and upon film evaluation Williams should rank right up in that same level. He just has what it takes to get to the ball and get there with an attitude.

“I guess I’m just one of those hard-nosed players,” Williams said. “I just do what it takes to make plays. I’m a playmaker.”

His coach Steve Lineweaver agrees.

“Desmond is one of those special players that you’re glad he’s on your team,” he said. “He’s just a great athlete that does it all.”

This includes participating in basketball and track. In fact, Lineweaver said Williams is talented enough that he could be recruited in those sports also. But football is his cup of tea, without question.

Williams neglected to name any early favorites but did identify a few things that he would like to see from his college of choice.

“For some reason I’ve always liked playing on artificial turf,” he said. “And it has to be someplace warm.”