Aneyas Williams is Concentrating on Running His Own Race
Aneyas Williams first introduced himself to Notre Dame fans back at Irish Invasion in 2022. He was a rising prospect who had turned heads on the camp circuit and walked out of the camp with an offer from Notre Dame.
He didn’t look like a player who was about to enter his junior year of high school, in more ways than one. Flash forward to two years later and he doesn’t look like he’s someone who is about to start his college football career at Notre Dame either.
He’s ahead of the curve with his work ethic and skill set. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by the coaching staff.
Associate head coach and running backs coach Deland McCullough has clearly been impressed with what he’s seen so far and Williams is pushing to be the guy who can replace Gi’Bran Payne as a third down option.
“The guy who, previous to Gi’Bran getting hurt, who I kind of seen as Gi’Bran’s understudy was Aneyas, initially, just because of his mentality, football IQ, big, strong guy,” McCullough declared about the young freshman. “He’s almost a 400-pound bench presser, not that that means a whole lot, but if you apply it, it does. He’s a guy who I’m working in that spot.”
Williams has embraced the opportunity and the competition that is taking place to fill Payne’s shoes, but he’s focusing on what he can control with his own game rather than keeping up with anyone else.
“Coach Freeman and Coach D have really put an emphasis on running your own race,” Williams said. “I think I’ve stayed pretty true to that. Not comparing myself to others. Just putting my head down and grinding because obviously as many know, we’ve got – with G (Gi’Bran Payne) being out this year – really opens up the spots for the rest of these guys.
“Coming into camp, it’s really all about how me, Devyn (Ford), Kedren (Young), J-Love (Jeremiyah Love), JD (Price), we’ve got roles to fill and big shoes to fill with G out. That hurt. But just running my own race like I said earlier…Coach D said in the meeting the other day, running our own race with blinders. Staying focused on our own goals, doing what we can to put our best foot forward and just attacking each day like that.”
One area he’s concentrated on to help him earn a role this season is pass protection. That doesn’t just mean physically being able to handle blocking linebackers. It’s about knowing his role in protections in blitz pickup.
“Learning that was my first priority. I know that role of how big of an impact it plays into being an every-down college running back,” admitted Williams. “So being able to learn that and with camp, that’s my main priority, showing that I can do that against any level.
“We know how good our defense is a how many complex looks they come at us with, so being able to understand and be quick with my reads. That’s the big part now. Now I’ve got to be one step quicker on how I check on my reads.”
It’s an adjustment he’s had to make since high school because he was typically a featured receiver on passing downs. He was a weapon not just out of the backfield, but also aligned in the slot.
Honing that ability as a receiver before he entered college has been important because it has meant he can shift his focus to improving other areas of his game.
“Having that has kind of separated myself. J-Love and JD, everyone on the team can run the routes. But just having that…being able to put a little less focus on (receiving) because I already have that and just focusing on the other more important things at this moment. I’m a running back now and we don’t run receiver routes. Just knowing if I need to and I need to break something in space, I can.”
It was partially that receiving ability that earned Williams comparisons as a recruit to former Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams. Being mentioned with Kyren is something Aneyas has embraced, especially with both of them from the St. Louis area. When Aneyas was asked about his style of play, he mentioned the shared traits of being “a gadget back who also has the ability to run up the middle” in addition to the receiving skills that make his game similar to Kyren’s.
Developing as a pass blocker is something that can get him on the field this fall. The skill set he is already bringing with him is something that can help find him a role within the offense. Williams is aware that he has a lot to learn from McCullough and the older backs on the roster, but he’s concentrating on his own game rather than trying to catch up to anyone else.
“Definitely, (focusing on) showing everything I can do, that way hopefully the coaches can find a little niche for me or something here or there,” Williams stated. “Those are the guys that are ahead and that’s just what it is.
“So if coach trusts me to put me in the game, running my own race is a big thing that we’ve been preaching on. And then Coach Free and Coach D…Coach D said yesterday, ‘Run your own race with blinders.’ Just nobody else matters. It’s just you.”
The race has only begun for Williams at Notre Dame. After seeing him flash at the end of spring and hearing the comments about him from McCullough, he’s off to a great start.
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