Bennett Williams is back healthy, ready to become disruptive force in Oregon's defense

Last December, Bennett Williams was at a crossroads.

Oregon’s standout defensive back got off to a sensational start in 2021 and was one of the more disruptive players in the Pac-12 through the first four weeks of the year. But the day before Oregon’s Week 5 matchup at Stanford, he suffered a broken fibula that was described as “a freak injury.”

He underwent surgery on Oct. 4, and the injury kept him sidelined for the remainder of the regular season. In the days between Oregon’s Dec. 3 loss in the Pac-12 title game, and its Dec. 28 Alamo Bowl matchup with Oklahoma, Williams was left with a decision to make.

His NFL Draft stock seemed to be on the rise early in the year, but the injury-derailed campaign left more questions than answers as to how scouts might evaluate him. Returning to school wasn’t a straightforward decision either, though, as the program was in flux after Mario Cristobal and his staff departed.

But on Dec. 11, the same day Dan Lanning was hired as Oregon’s next head coach, news broke that Williams planned to return to Eugene for his sixth college season.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Williams said. “Then when I saw coach Lanning got hired, I saw those guys coming in, I just felt it was a better decision to come back.”

Now, he figures to be a pivotal piece in a defensive scheme that he believes can get the very most out of his talents.

“It’s different, this defense. I can’t say enough about it — I’m so excited to get to play in it,” Williams said. “The stuff that we’ve already put in during these two weeks of spring ball is so far advanced, so far ahead of anything I’ve learned. But, looking at it from a personal level, that’s perfect for me in the transition to the NFL.”

Williams called Lanning and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi “geniuses” and remarked that Oregon is going to “confuse a lot of offenses this year.”

One of the unknown aspects at this point, though, is where exactly he will play. He has spent time working with safeties coach Matt Powledge, as well as special team/stars coach Joe Lorig this spring and is learning the star, boundary corner, dime, and safety positions.

The amount of time he spends with each position group can change depending on the day or week. It could be the case that he continues splitting time throughout the entire 2022 season, and he said he is fully prepared to play wherever he asked.

“It’s been a little bit of a load on me in terms of learning all the positions,” Williams said. “Just taking extra time in the film room; anything can be accomplished with a little more work. So I’ve been in the film room working with coach Powledge, working extra with coach Lorig, just to make sure I have it all down.”

Williams’ film sessions this spring have included tape of Georgia standouts Kelee Ringo and Lewis Cine, who thrived under Lanning last season, as points of reference. He said he’s also been watching tape of Baylor All-American safety Jalen Pitre.

“That’s not necessarily scheme-wise, but just in the way that coach Poweldge had him playing,” Williams said. “I watch his film and try to play a similar brand of ball.”

Last week, Lanning mentioned during an interview that he and his staff are heavily emphasizing the “havoc rates” which is a metric they use to determine just how disruptive a player is on a given day. For a player like Williams, who tallied three interceptions and a forced fumble in Oregon’s first four games last year, that’s a dream come true.

“As a defense, one of our main goals — our identity — is ball excellence, and making plays with the ball,” Williams said. “That’s definitely something I pride myself on. … For guys like me, for guys like (Jamal Hill) who can get their hands on the ball and fly around and be disruptive like that, that’s huge in terms of what coach Lanning is looking for.”