Georgia Tech Football: Five Breakout Players - RT Jordan Williams

Last year I wrote about Williams being a newbie to watch for, as I expected him to break into the rotation early. I’d pat myself on the back for the projection but it wasn’t a reach since Tech needed the obvious help of a player of Williams’s size. What I did not expect was for him to take the starting role against FSU to open the season and never relinquish it. This is why Jordan Williams is going to be a breakout player this coming season.

Individual stats are rarely tracked for offensive line play and they give even less insight into the development of the player. Truly, the offensive line is the ultimate team position. So much of the success depends on the players working together as a unit. It is why you hear the chemistry of the line is so important. Chemistry is only built through experience and understanding how your teammates react.

Williams would have been green in a normal year but add the limited practice allowed by COVID and he was truly inexperienced having just arrived at Tech. Being thrown to the wolves might have been the best outcome for him in the long run. He now has a significant amount of reps going into his second year and those reps will help him clean up the mistakes expected of a true freshman.

False start penalties plagued Georgia Tech over the course of the season and Williams had a few of his own but was rather clean compared to some of the veteran linemen. The first-year miscues should be exercised this time around and should allow the offense to stay ahead of the chains.

A full offseason of conditioning should also benefit Williams handling the faster players who could beat him around the edge. His size certainly helped with run blocking but defensive pressure got into Tech’s backfield quite often. If Tech’s S&C staff can get Williams a faster step off the snap then that should elevate his game even more.

It also feels that things should be falling into place in the third year under OC Dave Patenaude’s offense. Running backs are deep with a star in Gibbs, Sims should be settling in at QB in his second year, and the receivers have plenty of options to spread out opposing defenses. Jordan Williams having a breakout season would be a nice compliment to an offense prepared to make a splash in the ACC.