Everyone gunning for Florida State

When it comes to the big time prospects from the Sunshine State Karlos Williams better be on that list. Williams, 6-2 and 210 pounds, is a terrific athlete from Davenport Ridge High School. For his high school team Williams stars on both sides of the ball at quarterback and safety.

"As a safety, I go get the ball," Williams said. ""I am a cover guy that can cover a lot of that field. If you go deep on me I will be on top of it. I can come up and make the hit. I attack the screen pass or if you try to get down the seam. I have range against the run and the pass.

"Offensively, I play quarterback and can do a bunch of different things. I mean I could play receiver, both outside or in the slot. Some schools like Georgia Tech like me at quarterback. I could play a wildcat position as well.

"Me though, I prefer playing defense. I want to play safety."

Last season as a junior Ridge finished a disappointing 2-8. All the while Williams still put up impressive numbers on defense, recording 102 tackles, two interceptions, returned two fumbles for touchdowns, forced three fumbles and had six tackles for a loss.

According to Williams, he now has close to two dozen scholarship offers. As you can imagine there are some heavy hitters recruiting him.

"Florida State, LSU, Miami, Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, UCLA, Cal and Georgia Tech are some of the schools that I know have offered. I know I want to take a few trips. I am going to FSU this weekend for their junior day. I will go to a junior day at Alabama. I will visit Georgia and Miami for unofficial visits. I hope to make a decision before the summer starts."

For Williams, recruiting just didn't start for him recently. It happened a while ago, not to mention he saw two older brothers walk in his shoes before him.

"It's a long process and I know that even if I make a decision soon recruiting won't stop. Teams will still recruit me. They have been on me since the 9th grade. I just have to figure out what I what out of a school. I have talked to some (NFL) guys that I train with and they all say to stay humble, stay focused and hit the books. They say to take it one step at a time.

"My brother (Vince Williams) said the same things to me; stay out of trouble, hit the books and take recruiting to heart."

His older brother Vince plays at Florida State and FSU is the one team right now that the younger Williams feels very comfortable with.

"I love the new (FSU) staff. I love coach (Mark) Stoops, and coach (Lawrence) Dawsey, coach (Jimbo) Fisher. We all had a good talk. We laughed a lot but also talked some serious stuff. I know my brother loves coach (Greg) Hudson. I think there's a new vibe up there now. Things are fun again at Florida State. They will start producing. It's a new staff and a young staff and they are going to have more fun. After all, to play football you have to have fun."

So are the Seminoles the team to beat for safety Karlos Williams?

"Florida State is definitely the team to beat. And I have told every coach that I have talked with that FSU is the team to beat. It feels like home to me. If another school can beat that then I will go to school at that place.

"Right now I really like FSU, Alabama, Georgia, Miami and LSU. I prefer to stay in the south but things can change. Things can always change."