Four-star defensive end Ashley Williams Jr. commits to Arizona State

Zachary (La.) four-star defensive end Ashley Williams Jr. has committed to Arizona State on National Signing Day after being committed to both Nebraska and Auburn during his recruitment.

Despite only offering days ago, the quick relationship built with new head coach Kenny Dillingham won Williams over to get him to take his talents to Tempe.

"The coaching staff, we build a bond really quick," Williams said. "It was love at first sight."

Despite never meeting with Dillingham in-person or taking a visit to Arizona State, the program immediately felt like the right fit for Williams based on the conversations he had with the coaching staff in the last week.

"He is one of the younger coaches in college right now, but there's just something about him," he said. "When he spoke to me, it meant a lot. It showed me how much he wanted me at his program."

Williams will see Tempe soon before enrolling at Arizona State, which is a place he is excited to play for the next 3-to-4 years.

"Will most definitely be out there soon," he said. "It's Arizona, it's a beautiful place. They treated me like I should be there and play there."

At 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, Williams is the No. 20 ranked weakside defensive end in the country and the No. 17 recruit from the state of Louisiana for the class of 2023, according to Rivals.

In his time at Zachary, Williams was a violent pass rusher that did not struggle with opposing blockers that were most of the time much bigger than he was. His 22 tackles for loss in his junior season were mostly by way of Williams using his strong hands and finesse moves to swerve around stiff blockers. With his athleticism, Williams was able to fly around the backfield to make just about any tackle his team needed.

However, his weight improvement will be necessary at the college level. Already up over 25 pounds this calendar year, I'd like to see Williams push to 240-plus to feel comfortable about him succeeding in the PAC-12. His athleticism, hands and finesse are all elite, and if he can add a dash of strength to that skillset, then he will be one of the more dangerous pass rushers in Auburn early on in his career.

Williams oozes with potential, it will just have to wait to be seen until he can add the necessary weight and if it coincides with his already adept athletic skills in pass rush. If everything goes to plan for him, we could be looking at an incredibly dangerous player in the Sun Devils' defense.