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The NFL Draft is behind us, as is spring practice and we’re staring at a long summer between us and the upcoming season. Fortunately, this is the time of year when things typically start to heat up on the recruiting trail for college football.
That’s certainly the case for the Iowa Hawkeyes. While their big official visit weekend is more than a month away, they’ve been active on the trail these past few weeks lining up those visitors and handing out new offers.
One such offer went to Oak Lawn, Illinois running back Leshon Williams yesterday. The former teammate of class of 2019 safety commit Sebastian Castro wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity, committing less than 24 hours later.
IS IT REALLY A SURPRISE.... pic.twitter.com/a17NvzUqHW
— LESHON WILLIAMS 4️⃣ (@LboogieG) May 16, 2019
Williams is a really nice pic up for the Hawkeyes in 2020. As a junior at Richards High School, the 3-star prospect racked up 2,115 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns on 218 carries for an incredible 9.7 yard per carry average.
While he doesn’t have the wiggle of former running back Akrum Wadley or, say, 2019 commit Tyler Goodson, Williams brings a complementary skillset. At 5’10” and 205 pounds already, he’s got a good center of gravity that allows him to absorb contact and bounce off would-be tacklers. That is only going to improve as he continues to gain strength at the next level.
His style is a bit reminiscent of former Hawkeye LeShun Daniels Jr. He doesn’t have elite speed, but Williams shows really nice burst and is decisive. He’s a one-cut and go type of back that should fit in well in Iowa’s zone blocking scheme.
Williams chose Iowa over 18 other schools, including offers from Kansas State, Cincinnati and essentially the entire MAC. The commitment brings the Hawkeyes’ class to 10 total commitments. Williams is the second of his namesake in the class, joining fellow running back Gavin Williams. The pair are likely to be the only backs taken in 2020.
The Hawkeyes will now look to fill out the rest of the class, which is likely to top 20 total commitments once again. We’ll look to that big visit weekend in June to get the class closer to full ahead of the upcoming season.
Welcome aboard Leshon Williams!