Immature in high school, getting booted from a recruiting trip. Might have been some marijuana involved. Definitely was some attempts to recruit his fellow recruits to Tennessee.
Blew out the ACL/MCL in high school senior year. Had to re-take the ACT. Really set him back in that first year at Tennessee.
Unknown why he didn't catch on more in his second year at Tennessee, nor why he decided to leave the program (similar to Jalen Hurd).
Went to Colorado State to be reunited with Mike Bobo, who stood at his bedside after he blew out his knee in high school, even AFTER Preston had already committed to Tennessee.
Got into trouble with the police in Colorado for shoving his girlfriend. Got into even more trouble violating a protective order by calling her 200+ times.
Got off suspension at Colorado State and caught 96 balls for 1,345 yards and 14 TD. That was as much catch and yardage production as all the other wide receivers at Colorado State combined, and it was more touchdowns than all other pass catchers combined, regardless of position.
Left school early. Family decision. Trained for his pro day, as he was banned from attending the Combine (along with Jeffery Simmons).
Had trouble doing the no-step vertical at his Pro Day. Had to do it 6 times. His highest marks were thrown out. Scouts settled on giving him a 31.5 inch vertical. Similar to the poor vertical, Preston also had a relatively poor 9'8" broad jump. As Alfredo explained, this is common with basketball players, who often have trouble doing a vertical off two feet, and theorized this may have been Preston's problem. In high school Williams was the Georgia state champion in long jump, and runner-up in triple jump. Both are events you do with a running start, off one foot. His high school coach was quoted once saying Preston has a 42 inch vertical. These things fit Alfredo's theory. But it's just a theory.
The 4.61 forty at his pro day is troubling, as well. But it also may have a theoretical explanation. His Flying 20 time was 1.84 seconds, consistent with players that run 4.4's or even 4.3's. Not at all consistent with players who run 4.6+. Did he stumble? Did he rock forward during his start, causing the timer to start early? Did he lift his hand off the ground early, again causing the timer to start early?
These are my gripes with the infamous "10 yard split". The 10 yard line might be laser'd electronically, but the start is begun by someone subjectively based on perceived movement, and is therefore subject to either error by the human doing the start, or technical mistakes made by the runner in his track start. The track start is not a football move for a wide receiver. You could argue it's only a football move for 4-3 defensive ends. I don't care about technical perfection in the track start. I don't care if a guy lifts his hand early or rocks forward before he starts. I don't care if he didn't quite get down with his back arm up and managed to stay still for a three-count before he went off the blocks. I don't care. And yet all of these things can f-ck up the time. And thus I always approach 10 yard splits skeptically.
So I tend to put a lot more on times that are laser-to-laser. And for some positions, I care particularly about the final 20 yards, what some refer to as the Flying 20, because it gives you a nice estimate of the player's top-end speed.
If you go back five years, the ONLY wide receiver who was TALLER than Preston Williams AND ran a better Flying 20 was Dorial Green-Beckham, by one-hundredth of a second. That includes Combine times as well as Pro Day times. And for all those people belching about electronic this or that, keep in mind that electronic Flying 20's are almost always FASTER than hand-timed Flying 20's. I did only look up players that were ranked in the Top 50 among wide receivers. Obviously I couldn't look up everyone.
DGB was a high rated prospect entirely because of his size/athleticism combination. He was a three-route guy. And I don't mean he ran the 3-route constantly, I mean he only generally ran three different routes at Missouri. Much like D.K. Metcalf at Ole Miss, and several other speed merchants out there.
Whatever Preston Williams was at Colorado State, he was not a three-route guy. That's not what he learned in Mike Bobo's offense. He ran switch routes, he executed route combinations with other receivers. He moved between the outside and inside. He had a pretty full route tree.
He was a guy that made a LOT of big plays at Colorado State, a lot of deep plays, to where he was one of PFF's most dangerous and efficient deep threats...and yet, to me, he almost comes off as more of a possession receiver, because he has that skill set. That's what is so compelling to me about him.
But he's got to keep his nose clean from a marijuana standpoint, obviously. He can't run into trouble with the law, obviously. And he's got to show the team that his Instagram feed, as well as the testimonials from people around him, which both show a player that works really hard at football, is not just for show. He has to show the Dolphins that the game is indeed that important to him.
And I can't sit here and tell you how that's going to come out. He could turn them off and get cut halfway into training camp. Or before training camp, like Cam Wake was once cut by the Giants before he even reached training camp.
But I certainly hope that doesn't happen.
