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The Arkansas Razorbacks have a future superstar on their hands in Rawleigh Williams III from Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, Texas. Williams ran for 100 yards in the Razorbacks win over Tennessee, and had a rushing score against Texas A&M in an overtime loss.
What is it about RW3 that separates him from other freshmen running backs that we’ve seen at Arkansas? First off, his running style is perfect for head coach Bret Bielema’s style of play: Low to the ground, north and south, and physical. RW3 trucks through defenders like a much bigger and older back would.
When I looked at his best runs as a Hog so far, one thing really stood out to me about Williams, and that’s his ability to read the line, even when a play had broken down. There’s a great example in the video above of Rawleigh being forced to run outside the gap, and turning it into a big play for Arkansas.
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Another thing that Williams does that other freshman typically don’t do is block, and block well. On more than one occasion, Williams was forced to pick up a blitz or seal the edge on a rollout, and he executed well. He’s done a great job so far for Arkansas in pass protection.
Williams’ emergence as a legitimate rushing threat will help Arkansas establish themselves a true run-first team going forward. RW3 is no Johnathan Williams, (At least not yet) but his style compliments featured back Alex Collins’ the same way that J-Will’s did. If Rawleigh can give Collins a break, take up a nice load of carries, and turn them into yards/points, then the Razorbacks rushing attack will go from being solid to dynamic once again.