4* DT Damonic Williams (Bishop Alemany, 2022) announces commitment to Cal Football
Out of the blue, into the blue and gold
Damonic Williams, a 6’1, 300 lb defensive tackle from Mission Hills, California, has become the first verbal commitment in the 2022 California recruiting class.
Williams also held reported offers from USC, Washington, Arizona State, Utah, and Michigan.
After Quality Control Coach Mike Bruno’s tweet earlier this evening, Cal fans were on watch for crystal balls and cryptic messages. Cal sleuths were analyzing Twitter followers and old articles in order to discern any information.
Williams’ announcement came with certainly little notice though. 247Sports only lists his Cal offer as coming today (he had stated in previous interviews, however, that Cal had already offered him).
Yet, Cal fans should be excited over Williams’ annoucement. Scouts have noted Williams’ skills allow him to be an aggressive run stopper that can push the trenches towards the backfield.
At 6’1, 300 lbs, Williams was a force at Narbonne High. As a sophomore in limited playtime, he received first-team Marine League honors with 44 tackles, nine sacks, and eight forced fumbles.
He transferred to Bishop Alemany last spring and plans to play in the upcoming season. This year, he wants to hit 10 sacks.
Williams has said he plans to focus on his skills at defensive tackle and nose guard but can also play as a defensive end.
Finally, Williams attended the Cal-USC game in 2019 and reportedly had a fantastic time.
Watch his highlights here on Hudl.
Welcome to Berkeley, Damonic! GO BEARS!
Damonic Williams
6’3” 318 lbs (self-declared)
To add to Owen’s article, Master Williams lives in California, which has delayed high school football season until first half 2021, if at all. So there’s no junior year tape or stats. No camps. No interviews.
During non-Covid times, recruiting high school sophomores and juniors to forecast how they’ll play two to five years in the future is a bit of a dark art. Being an observer of recruiting is even harder since we only glimpse a fraction of their body of work. Being an observer of recruiting during a Covid year is a farce.
Likewise, I would be wary of star ratings now because the rating agencies likewise have nothing to go on. They’ll go off of which programs were competitive last year, sophomore year material, and which players were early bloomers.
Narbonne HS is – or was - a juggernaut in the very competitive Marine League. However, they had to vacate their 2018 title and their entire undefeated 2019 season because rules violations including allegations of ineligible players, residency shenanigans, and administration that skirted the rules. Narbonne was banned, hence why Damonic’s transfer makes sense.
With that, let’s look at Damonic’s tape with the caveat that sophomore tape – even on a future superstar – looks rough. First, Damonic was built like a fireplug prototype NG, but has since self-declared that he gained another 2 inches and 18 pounds. A P5 d-lineman should be destroying people on high school highlight tapes and he does. Despite the dearth of tape, Damonic has an array of moves, which shows that he is coachable. He gets good results on those moves due to his early-bloomer size and strength, but is understandably raw in technique. He has a good motor and beastly strength for a sophomore, but he was understandably not quick off the line, slow in pursuit, needs improved flexibility, and the transformation of a good S&C program to succeed at the next level. But he passes the eyeball test and seems like a very high quality recruit. He’s the critical guy you plug in the middle -- a Stanley McKenzie type – to absorb one to two blockers and lets the other guys clean up. Not a glory position, but so so so critical in the 3-4.
So.... how is this kid 15?