Cal Adds Texas A&M Edge Solomon Williams from Transfer Portal
The Lupoi era begins on the line of scrimmage
EDGE Solomon Williams comes to Cal from Florida via College Station, Texas. Per Nakos he was heavily pursued by other SEC schools but elected to come to Cal due to his relationship with HC Lupoi from his high school recruitment time.
247 had him as the 25th Edge prospect in the portal with a slight downgrade from his 4* HS ranking to a 3* rating. While in HS he was evaluated by Andrew Ivins:
Overall, should be viewed as a productive pass rusher with developmental upside. Will need to eventually get better with the hands, but already has some juice and power, which is key. Likely going to need a year or two to get adjusted to the speed and demands of Power Five football, but could be featured early on in situational packages that are rolled out on obvious passing downs.
While at A&M he played light rotational snaps the last 2 seasons pass rushing for nearly half of his time on the field.
As per the Ivins evaluation Williams comes in at a good time in his development, especially at A&M lead by HC Elko who is a known defensive mastermind, to be an instant contributor for Cal whether it is as the main or as a rotational EDGE.
He currently stands at 6’1” 250 lbs and was deployed as a 2 point stance EDGE which looks to be his natural position considering his frame. If deployed in the 4i-0-4i formation I suspect him to be the Edge/OLB providing a 4 man surface pre-snap.
Below see Williams projects to the the “J” Joker.
He is set to replace both Ryan McCullough and TJ Bush Jr. who both entered the portal earlier this week.
I, too, look for pre-snap, EDGE-rush, non-anti aggressive, semi-lateral, pro-vertical, fully contained, symbiotic, probiotic pass rush, like anyone else.
If the portal giveth and taketh, this is the first giveth (of presumably many). Welcome to Berkeley!