Texas Football: Derek Williams showing ‘improvement every day’

This esteemed class of true freshmen for Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian have generated a lot of buzz through the first three weeks of fall camp. Texas signed the No. 3 class in the nation in the 2024 cycle in the 247Sports Composite and On3 Industry Ranking.

The Longhorns are set to have multiple instant-impact true freshmen on both sides of the ball this season. Some instant contributors for the Longhorns are wide receiver Johntay Cook II, cornerback Malik Muhammad, running back CJ Baxter Jr., linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., and safety Derek Williams.

The latter of those five touted true freshmen, Williams, hasn’t received as much hype as the rest of the bunch in fall camp. But Williams is still proving that he deserves a heavy helping of live-game reps this fall, despite coming in as a summer enrollee.

Texas football S Derek Williams showing “improvement every day” in training camp

Williams is pushing to lock down a spot on the two-deep at safety heading into Week 1 against the Rice Owls on Sep. 2. From what we’ve heard since the start of summer workouts, Williams is easily on track to get on the two-deep this fall.

Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods reported on Aug. 19 (subscriber content) that safeties coach Blake Gideon likes what he sees from Williams in training camp. It was specifically stated that “he just shows improvement every day”, regarding Williams’ progression in the last couple of months.

Williams is digesting the defensive concepts quickly, which will help him become a more impactful safety as a true freshman this fall. And the fact that he’s such a gifted defensive back physically, at 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, makes Williams a force in the secondary just a few months after he arrived on campus for his first year in college.

While it is true that Williams hasn’t received as much outward praise in the media in training camp as some of the other highly-rated true freshmen from the 2023 class, he still got recognition from Sark in a press conference last week. Sark noted Williams among the true freshmen that stood out in the first scrimmage of fall camp last weekend.

Williams will get to learn behind experienced safeties Jerrin Thompson and Jalen Catalon

I do expect Williams to get plenty of live-game reps this fall. And while he’s not going to be a starting safety heading into the opener on Sep. 2 against Rice, Williams is still in a great situation getting to learn behind senior safeties Jerrin Thompson and Jalen Catalon.

Williams gets to prove himself on the field in limited reps out of the gates this season. Once Texas transitions to the SEC in 2024, Williams can show what he can do at defensive back upon the departures of Thompson and Catalon.