USC's Mike Williams to follow Clarett's lead

[maxdemo]

Trojans receiver to enter draft after two college years
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- Barring an unanticipated change of heart, Southern California wide receiver Mike Williams will become the first underclass prospect to enter the draft since the NFL was forced by the Maurice Clarett case to alter its eligibility rules.

Several sources here for the league's annual predraft combine workouts told ESPN.com that Williams, who would be regarded as one of the top receiver prospects, has decided to forego his remaining two seasons of college eligibility. He has not, however, filed the required paperwork yet with the NFL and will meet this weekend with his parents to discuss his decision.

In two college seasons, Williams has 176 catches for 2,570 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Williams, 20, is actually 2½ months younger than Clarett, who challenged the league's eligibility rules and was admitted to the draft when a U.S. District Court judge in New York ruled the NFL guidelines in violation of anti-trust laws.


The NFL is appealing that decision but, because of the ruling, the league re-opened its draft deadline and players now have until March 1 to petition for early entry into the 2004 lottery April 24-25.

Because he is not yet three years removed from his high school class graduation date, Williams would not have been eligible under the NFL's former rules. Williams said after the Clarett ruling that he had no intention of leaving the Trojans, the defending co-national champions. But several general managers and personnel directors surveyed here Friday said they were not surprised by the news that Williams would be a part of the '04 draft pool.

Since he is not yet included in the draft, team officials and coaches cannot discuss Williams and his NFL potential. On Thursday, league officials told ESPN.com that no college or high school players had yet applied for inclusion in the draft under the new guidelines.

Some team officials acknowledged they have been contacted by USC coach Pete Carroll, attempting to have them phone Williams and offer their assessments of where he might fit into this year's draft.

 

[D2bets]

He would easily fit into the TOP 10 in the draft, if not the TOP 5. I'd pick him ahead of Clarett for sure. He is a potential all-star wideout IMO.

 

[maxdemo]

I know that a judge cleared the way for underclassmen....but will this affect the way teams draft. Maybe choosing underclass men in the later rounds?

 

[Fishhead]

FANTASTIC player and much more valuable than Clarett.

Would love to see the PACKERS snag him.

 

[WildBill]

Surprised Rail didn't come here to talk about how the kid will be better than Jerry Rice!

Interesting with SC, they had such a huge season and so many potential returnees, but their best offensive and defensive players left early. They still have a lot of firepower, but I think they might be overrated early on. People will still see the high number of returnees, but not take into account two of the best players in the country are among those not coming back.

 

[Railbird]

Not will be better than any nfl wr. IS better than any nfl wr.

 

[GreenDoberman]

I would take Mike Williams #1. He is a Sterling Sharpe/Jerry Rice type dominant receiver. He is ten times the player Keyshawn was/is. I am not an SC backer, but this kid has more talent than ANYONE in college.

 

[1BigCajun]

If Mike Williams DOES come out .... he will probably be a TOP 5 Pick. He definitely has all the skills ( Super Speed ---- Height --- LEaping Ability ---- Good Hands ---- and a Good ROute Runner). Hell, I could see Detroit, Oakland, Philly (if they trade up) all looking hard at this guy.

 

[WildBill]

I wouldn't trade up much this year, there are so many good WRs that even in mid to late first round there will be a difference maker still on the board. Fitzgerald is still probably a better pick, but you can't really go wrong with any of the three Williams' this year as all of them will be Pro Bowl candidates within two or three years of entering the league.

 

[5teamparlay]

http://www.freep.com/article/201004...ogers-was-a-bust-but-Mike-Williams-was-bigger

Posted: 3:04 p.m. April 7, 2010

Charles Rogers was a bust,
but Mike Williams was
'bigger'

By JAMIE SAMUELSEN
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER

Jamie Samuelsen, the sports director for the
morning show on WCSX-FM (94.7), blogs for
freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily
reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its
writers. You can reach him at
jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter
@jamiesamuelsen and read more of his opinions
at freep.com/jamie.

Of all the Detroit Lions’ draft busts, was
Charles Rogers the worst?
That’s like asking Tiger Woods which mistress
was his favorite. There are so many to choose
from. You probably could put together an entire
offense and defense full of Lions draft busts.
The only problem: they wouldn’t beat anyone
except, ironically enough, the Lions. (Think I’m
kidding? Remember how well Joey Harrington
played here on Thanksgiving 2006?)
Out of the massive pool of Lions draft busts,
you’d have to select a final five or so for the
ultimate prize of greatest ever. And let’s start by
saying that Charles Rogers is certainly part of
the conversation. When he was drafted out of
Michigan State, some football analysts (I
remember Mark May of ESPN being particularly
frothy) called him one of the top three receivers
in the NFL -- before he even played a game.
When he displayed his “game-breaking” speed in
training camp, some longtime observers said he
was the fastest player in the game and couldn’t
possibly bust. (Those observers neglected to
take into account that he was doing it against
the Lions' defense.) And he made quite a splash
with two touchdowns in his first game against
the Cardinals -- a Lions win. The only problem
with that game was that another receiver named
Anquan Boldin was making his NFL debut and
totally outplayed Rogers. More than one jubilant
Lions fan left that day wondering whether
perhaps the Lions could have taken a different
player at No. 2 overall and grabbed Boldin in the
second round.
Then came Rogers' injuries. Then came the drug
issues. Then came the falling asleep at a red
light. And his football career was over. Rogers
might go down as the greatest waste of talent in
Lions history, but I don’t think he was the
biggest bust.
First of all, the pick did make sense. It doesn’t
now because a.) it was made by Matt Millen and
b.) Harrington stinks. But remember, at the time,
Harrington was coming off of a mildly
encouraging rookie season and he needed some
receivers to open up the offense. Andre Johnson
was there (he was taken one spot later) and has
turned into a star. So that makes Rogers look
bad. Troy Polamalu went at No. 16 to the
Steelers, but there’s no way any team would have
taken him No. 2, so it’s unfair to castigate the
Lions for that.
But secondly, and more important, Rogers
actually was a pretty good player before injuries
started to derail his career. He was never a star,
but everything bad that happened to him since
2003 -- most of it his fault -- has made fans
think of him as 100% cruddy. (There’s a worse
word, but I won’t use it.) Just remember how you
felt when he first got hurt. And then remember
how you felt when he broke his collarbone in the
opener the following season in Chicago. We were
all pretty disappointed. He was a weapon -- not
a lethal weapon -- but a weapon. His career was
derailed by injury and then completely undone
by substance.
My nominee for biggest bust came just two
years later, when the Lions took Mike Williams
out of Southern Cal. And when I say “biggest”
bust, you can go ahead and assume that I’m
using the literal and the figurative form of the
word. He was overweight and lazy from the word
go. But more than that, he was a total luxury.
The last thing the Lions needed was another
wide receiver. They had Rogers (suppress your
giggles), and they had Roy Williams. A lot of
people loved the pick, figuring that Williams was
a star and the Lions, offense would be
impossible to stop. Instead, Mike Williams ate
himself out of Detroit and the league, and the
Lions passed on such players as DeMarcus Ware,
Shawne Merriman and Derrick Johnson.
If it weren’t for injury, you could argue that
Rogers never would have steered so far astray
from football. You could argue that he’s still in
the league. He wasn’t going to be a star, but he
could still be in the game. There is not an
argument that exists that suggests Mike
Williams would still be in the league. That, my
friends, is a bust.

 

[TonyMar]

@)

 

[lifexpired]

lol nice bump

 

[JohnnyMac]

Ha! Some classic wrong opinions in this thread from some Rx legends.