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Offer by Texas has the Longhorns moving up for CB Jalon Williams

Texas is a top team for CB Jalon Williams after extending an offer this week.
Texas is a top team for CB Jalon Williams after extending an offer this week.

The Texas Longhorns have one cornerback commitment in the 2021 class in Ishmael Ibraheem, but the UT staff continues to look for other talent to restock the position. Earlier this week, an in-state offer was put on the table to South Grand Prairie’s Jalon Williams. The 5-10, 185-pound Williams has been in touch with the UT staff for a few weeks now, and he got official word of the offer late Tuesday evening.

“I’ve been talking to them for about two weeks to maybe a month. They had told me they were going to offer me a week prior,” Williams said. “They said it’s coming, I just had to wait a while. They told me yesterday they were going to do it, then they did it late last night. The defensive coordinator (Chris Ash) and coach (Jay) Valai were on the phone with me.

“Although I knew it was coming, it feels pretty good to get that offer.”

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With the Longhorn offer now in hand, Williams said Texas immediately makes a move up his list.

“It’s Texas, so it’s what you would think. It’s the biggest school in Texas,” Williams said.

Along with the Longhorns, Williams listed schools like Boston College, Houston and Utah as programs that have caught his attention. Early in the process, Williams had hoped to make a decision this summer but with recruiting visits put on hold, he said he may now have to push his timeline back into the fall. He was unable to do any on-campus visits before COVID-19 shut things down, although he has been able to see a few campuses on virtual visits, including a recent one with Texas.

“I wasn’t able to go out and do any visits. I’ve done some virtual visits but that’s it. I’ve done Boston College, Houston, and I just did one at Texas,” Williams said. “It was more on academics but they showed me the campus too. You meet with academic team, then they show videos of the campus, where the academic facilities are, where you’ll be, the stadium, locker room, things like that.”

Seeing the academic side of what Texas has to offer was important, Williams said, since he wants to create a vision of his life after football.

“I know even if I have a long career in the NFL, like 10 or 15 years, I’ll still only be 35 or 40 years old. I know I have to go out and still find a real job,” Williams said.

A three-star prospect, Williams is holding close to 25 total offers. He feels his ability to cover man-to-man is a part of the reason schools are after his commitment.

“For my strengths, I have really good footwork at the line of scrimmage. I can press, if the wide receiver goes lateral, I can go lateral and stay with them, mimic them on the line,” Williams said. “Downfield, my body control is good. When the ball goes in the air, I’m right there with them. One thing to get better at would be tracking the ball a little better, and playing off man. At my school, we do it some but not that much.”

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