Rodney Williams (tight end)
| Personal information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | April 8, 1998[1] Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. | ||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | Germantown (TN) | ||||
| College: | UT Martin (2016–2021) | ||||
| Position: | Tight end | ||||
| Undrafted: | 2022 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 2, 2024 | |||||
| |||||
Rodney Williams II (born April 8, 1998)[1] is an American professional who is a free agent. He played college football at UT Martin and was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2022.
Early life and high school
[edit]Williams was born on April 28, 1998, in Memphis, Tennessee.[2] He attended Germantown High School and was a standout athlete in football, basketball and track.[3] He was an all-metro and all-district selection in football and won both the regional and state championship in high jumping.[3][4] He committed to play college football for the UT Martin Skyhawks.[4]
College career
[edit]Williams began his collegiate career as a wide receiver.[5] He appeared in eight games as a true freshman at UT Martin in 2016, recording four receptions for 78 yards.[4] He appeared in 10 games with four catches for 32 yards in 2017 before totaling 23 receptions for 252 yards in 2018 while seeing his first action as a starter.[4] He redshirted due to an injury in 2019 after having appeared in four games with nine catches for 111 yards.[4] Williams switched to tight end in the 2020–21 season and was selected second-team FCS All-American after recording 30 catches for 327 yards and four touchdowns.[5][6][7] He was a second-team all-conference selection in his final year, the fall 2021 season, in which he tallied 29 receptions for 417 yards and three touchdowns.[4] He finished ninth in UT Martin history for receptions with 99, also having posted 1,217 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.[8]
Professional career
[edit]| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 3+1⁄4 in (1.91 m) |
235 lb (107 kg) |
33+7⁄8 in (0.86 m) |
9 in (0.23 m) |
4.55 s | 1.52 s | 2.52 s | 4.16 s | 7.44 s | 40.5 in (1.03 m) |
10 ft 10 in (3.30 m) |
21 reps | |
| All values from Pro Day[9] | ||||||||||||
Denver Broncos
[edit]After going unselected in the 2022 NFL draft, Williams was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent.[8] He was waived on August 16, 2022.[10]
Pittsburgh Steelers
[edit]On September 13, 2022, Williams was signed to the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers.[11] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 10, 2023.[12] He was waived on August 29, 2023, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.[13][14] He was promoted to the active roster on October 4, after an injury to Pat Freiermuth.[15] During week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens, Williams nearly recovered a punt blocked by teammate Miles Killebrew as it rolled out of the endzone for a safety to help the Steelers win 17–10.[16]
Williams was waived by the Steelers on August 27, 2024, and re-signed to the practice squad.[17][18] He was promoted to the active roster on September 18.[19] He was waived on November 5.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Rodney Williams Biography". ESPN. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
- ^ "Rodney Williams Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ a b "Rodney Williams". The Commercial Appeal. June 8, 2016. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f "Rodney Williams II". UT Martin Skyhawks.
- ^ a b Adamski, Chris (July 26, 2023). "Steelers 2-a-days: OT Jarrid William a late signing, Rodney Williams lost amid talented TE room". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
- ^ Adamski, Chris (August 9, 2023). "Rodney 'Hot Rod' Williams making plays for Steelers, but fights numbers game at TE". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
- ^ Kellem, Joshua (May 26, 2022). "Broncos offseason roster: No. 86, TE Rodney Williams". USA Today.
- ^ a b "UT Martin's Rodney Williams II Signs Free Agent Deal With Denver Broncos". UT Martin Skyhawks. April 30, 2022.
- ^ "2022 Draft Scout Rodney Williams II, Tennessee-Martin NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
- ^ DiLalla, Aric (August 16, 2022). "Broncos waive five players to reach 85-player roster limit". Denver Broncos.
- ^ Varley, Teresa (September 13, 2022). "Steelers add two to practice squad". Pittsburgh Steelers.
- ^ Adamski, Chris (January 10, 2023). "Steelers sign 10 to reserve/future contracts, including 9 of their 16-man practice squad". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
- ^ Strackbein, Noah (August 29, 2023). "Steelers Make Final Roster Cuts". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Varley, Teresa (August 30, 2023). "Steelers add nine to the practice squad". Pittsburgh Steelers. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
- ^ Stockley, Andrew (October 4, 2023). "Steelers promote TE Rodney Williams from practice squad". WTAE-TV.
- ^ Adamski, Chris (October 8, 2023). "'Best in the world' at blocking punts, Miles Killebrew again makes big play for Steelers". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
- ^ Varley, Teresa (August 27, 2024). "Steelers trim 2024 roster to 53 players". Steelers.com. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
- ^ Varley, Teresa (August 29, 2024). "Steelers sign eight to practice squad". Steelers.com. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
- ^ Varley, Teresa (September 18, 2024). "Williams promoted to 53-man roster". Steelers.com. Retrieved October 15, 2024.