NFL Draft Scout
Featured In/On:
*Pooka Williams Jr., RB, Kansas
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Name: *Pooka Williams Jr.
College: Kansas
Number: 1
School Bio/Stats Link: HERE
Height: 5-10 Weight: 170
Position: Pos2: KR
Class/Draft Year: Jr/2021
40 Low: 4.38 40 Time: 4.46 40 High: 4.52
> Projected Round: Stock: 
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Data Scout Notes: 2020: NAC...12-6-20-Early Entry into 2021 NFL Draft...10-19-20-Announced Opt-Out for rest of 2020 Season...PMaxwell...2019: 1stC...Coming off 2019 Suspension...Charged w/domestic battery on Dec 8 '18. FWAA 2nd team All-American All-Purpose, FWAA Freshman
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Combine Results |
Pro Day Results |
Combine Invite: Yes
Height: 5095
Weight: 170
Zybek PD3X AKA "Official"
40 Yard Dash (ET):
40 Yard Dash (HH):
20 Yard (ET):
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10 Yard (ET):
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225 Lb. Bench Reps:
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Dates: 03/05/21
Hand: 09 3/4 Arm: 30 7/8
Wingspan: 72 3/4
Height: 5095
Weight: 170
40 Yrd Dash: 4.46
20 Yrd Dash: 2.49
10 Yrd Dash: 1.54
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225 Lb. Bench Reps: 04
Vertical Jump: 31 1/2
Broad Jump: 09'10"
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.26
3-Cone Drill: 7.03
40 Time Range: 4.42-4.48/Projected 4.36
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*Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas, Player News
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Back in Lawrence to show off his speed, footwork and more, former Jayhawks running back Pooka Williams returned to the Kansas football spotlight on Friday, more than four months after he opted out the 2020 season. Williams clocked a 4.38 40-yard dash at KU's pro day, displaying some of the velocity that helped him stand out during his 26 career games with the Jayhawks. "I was happy about the whole thing really," Williams told reporters on a video call following the closed event. "Just performed well, an d was being myself for real."One of KU's most talented skill players in recent memory, Williams, a preseason All-Big 12 running back in 2020, announced four games into the 10-game schedule he would opt out of the season. Speaking with media member s for the first time since then, Williams, who announced in December his plans to turn pro and leave KU, said he didn't think his time away from practicing and playing in games from mid-October through early December would hurt him heading into this year 's NFL Draft. "Nah. If it does hurt me, once I get in there I'll just prove myself again," Williams declared. - Lawrence Journal World
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021  RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Lawrence Journal World
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Former Kansas football star running back Pooka Williams will be back in Lawrence this week, hoping to prove himself as an NFL prospect at the Jayhawks' pro day on Friday. Due to the pandemic, there won't be an NFL Scouting Combine in 2021, making the pro days hosted by individual college football programs all the more important for the players trying to make it to the next level. The NFL still extended invitations to players for a virtual version of the combine this year, though, and Williams received o ne, KU announced on Tuesday. Williams, a four-star high school prospect when he signed with KU as a touted recruit from Louisiana, figures to be a player of interest for NFL teams, whose scouts and coaches will be able to access video footage and results from KU's pro day drills. - Lawrence Journal World
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Lawrence Journal World
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Listed at 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds as a junior at KU, Williams rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons, emerging as an electric offensive player for the long struggling program. KU's offense floundered, though, this year, and Wi lliams' effectiveness declined. After rushing for just 21 yards on 11 carries in KU's loss at West Virginia, Williams announced he was opting out of the season. In four games as a junior, Williams averaged only 3.8 yards per carry - he averaged 7.0 yards as a freshman and 5.2 as a sophomore.Williams ran for 196 yards (65.3 yards per game) and scored two rushing touchdowns in 2020. Earlier in his career, he totaled 1,125 rushing yards (102.3 per game) as a freshman and 1,061 as a sophomore (96.5 p er game). Williams revealed his opt out plans on Oct. 19, hours after being named the Big 12's Special Teams Player of the Week, an honor he picked up by returning a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown on what proved to be the final play of his KU career. I n a statement released at the time of his opt out, Williams said part of his plan involved moving back to Louisiana to be closer to his mother, who was dealing with health issues. - Lawrence Journal World
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Lawrence Journal World
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Kansas running back Pooka Williams has declared for the 2021 NFL Draft. The star Jayhawks running back posted on Twitter announcing he will move on from Lawrence. Williams announced back in October that he would opt out for the rest of the 2020 season af ter playing the first four games. He cited personal reasons, including being closer to his mother and family in Louisiana, as the reasons for his departure. The First-Team All Big 12 selection has garnered 2,363 rushing yards and 534 receiving yards in h is 2+ years at KU. He finishes his Jayhawks career 9th all-time in career rushing yardage. - WIBW TV News, Kansas
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: WIBW TV News, Kansas
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OCT 19 BIG 12 SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Pooka Williams Jr., RB, Jr., Kansas,...A 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter helped Williams Jr., collect his award. It was the first kick return TD by a Jayhawk since 2016 and the first of his career. Williams increased his career kickoff return yardage to 443. - Big 12 Football
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Big 12 Football
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According to Kansas football head coach Les Miles, the Jayhawks are expecting to have running back Pooka Williams back on the roster in 2021. Williams' decision earlier this week to opt out came without much clarity on his future plans. But Miles, fieldi ng questions from reporters for the first time since the announcement, said on Saturday the star rusher could be back on campus for the spring semester. "What he said is in January that he's coming back," Miles shared following the Jayhawks' first game w ithout Williams, a 55-14 loss at Kansas State. "So it'll be interesting to see," Miles added. "Certainly we'd love to have him."In Williams' absence, sophomore Velton Gardner handled most of the load at running back, as anticipated. Gardner rushed for 72 yards on 16 carries, while true freshman Daniel Hishaw Jr. added 14 yards on six rushes. "When (Williams) left, he left to be with his mother, who's sick," Miles responded during his postgame press conference, when asked whether Williams might tr ansfer or enter the 2021 NFL Draft. "I think those minutes and time are something that he'll look back on and not regret leaving the team to be with his mom." - Lawrence Journal World
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Lawrence Journal World
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Pooka Williams has opted out of the remainder of the 2020 college football season, a decision that could signal the end of the standout junior running back's electrifying Kansas career. Williams, a preseason All-Big 12 selection, announced his decision t o step away from the program Monday night via a graphic posted to Twitter. A likely NFL Draft selection when his collegiate career ends, Williams is eligible to take that path beginning next spring. If Williams' collegiate career is over, it ended with a bang. Williams returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown on his final touch in last Saturday's 38-17 defeat at West Virginia, a play that represented his 18th touchdown with the Jayhawks - 12 rushing, four receiving, one passing and that special teams highlight.Through two-plus seasons, the all-purpose player compiled 415 rushing attempts for 2,382 yards (5.7 yards per carry) and 66 receptions for 534 yards. Williams' junior campaign has been a struggle, though - he carried the ball 11 times f or just 21 yards against the Mountaineers, dropping his yards per carry to 3.8 in 51 totes. Playing through an ankle injury sustained early in the Jayhawks' season, Williams has also struggled to find openings behind a largely ineffective offensive line. - Topeka Capital Journal
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Topeka Capital Journal
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After Pooka Williams Jr. finished with only 32 rushing yards against Oklahoma State in the Kansas football team's 47-7 homecoming loss, head coach Les Miles addressed the challenging day for the junior running back. "Well, I can tell you it's not Pooka," Miles said of Williams' struggles, seemingly referencing blocking issues encountered by KU's offensive line. "It's going to be another position group. Because he does those things that you can't coach." The Jayhawks (0-3 overall, 0-2 Big 12) handed the ball to their star playmaker 14 times against the Cowboys (3-0, 2-0). Williams left the game in the third quarter because of an injury, the nature of which was not disclosed. He averaged just 2.8 yards per carry.His 32 rushing yards were easily hi s lowest total of the season, and the worst since the last time KU faced OSU, in 2019 (12 carries, 26 yards). The output this past weekend was the third-lowest in Williams' 25 career appearances. KU's game plan also involved trying to keep Williams invol ved on special teams as a kickoff returner. The speedy junior from Louisiana couldn't find the space to bust open a long return, though, averaging 18 yards on six attempts. His longest went for 31. The injury on Saturday was the second one Williams had s uffered this season. "The good news is it's a nick," Miles said Monday during the Big 12 coaches teleconference, "and we figure we'll have him back here after the bye week." - Lawrence Journal World
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Lawrence Journal World
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There's a growing consensus among those who closely follow Kansas football: Pooka Williams is deserving of, and should receive, more touches on game day. That conclusion has been reached out of the combination of both the junior running back's top-tier a bilities - on display in limited spurts across his team's first two contests - and evaluations of a Jayhawk offense that has too often been an eyesore. Williams, however, doesn't appear to have strong feelings about that consensus - at least, it isn't so mething the preseason All-Big 12 selection is politicking for publicly."I'm a team player," said Williams, speaking after the Jayhawks' 47-14 defeat last Saturday at Baylor. "I mean, I want everybody on the field to eat." While Williams' team-firs t answer struck the right chord following that lopsided defeat, it did little to quell those calling for more carries for the former four-star recruit. That group gained a very notable member Monday in KU head coach Les Miles. "I see Pooka getting better and better. One thing about Pooka: He's got leadership abilities. He is one of the more natural runners that I have ever seen," Miles said. "...I'd like to get him a few more touches to be honest with you." - Topeka Capital Journal
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Topeka Capital Journal
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2020 PRESEASON MAXWELL AWARD WATCH LIST: RB Pooka Williams, Kansas,...Williams, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, enters the 2020 season following his second-consecutive 1,000-plus yard season in 2019. Williams carried 203 times for 1,061 yards and thr ee touchdowns a season ago, becoming the first Jayhawk since James Sims to rush for 1,000 or more yards in back-to-back seasons. Williams also tallied 1,275 all-purpose yards in 2019, including 214 yards receiving. Williams ranks second among Big 12 retu rners in all-purpose yards from 2019. - Kansas Football
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Kansas Football
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Kansas has hired Jonathan Wallace to coach special teams and running backs, completing an overhaul of Les Miles' staff as the Jayhawks head into Year 2 of the former national championship-winning coach's regime. Miles announced the hiring in a statement Tuesday. Wallace spent last season coaching tight ends at Air Force, and he spent the previous season at Bethel, a Division III school in Minnesota where he worked with recently promoted offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon. Wallace also spent two years a s an offensive graduate assistant at Auburn, where he played quarterback and wide receiver. Wallace helped the Tigers to a pair of bowl games and an appearance in the SEC title game as a coach. - AP College Football
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: AP College Football
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2019 ALL-BIG 12 FOOTBALL FIRST TEAM (COACHES): RB Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas,...Williams, a New Orleans, native, played a huge part in KU's productivity on offense as he posted his second-straight 1,000-yard season, becoming just the second player in KU history to do so, joining James Sims (2012-13). He collected 1,061 yards on 203 carries, including three touchdowns. Williams also amassed 214 receiving yards on 27 catches, with two resulting in scores. Williams recorded four 100-yard rushing games on t he season, including a season-high 190-yard outing at Texas. - Kansas Football
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Kansas Football
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Kansas sophomore RB Pooka Williams has 396 yards rushing in his last three games since being limited to 12 yards on eight carries at TCU. He is second in the Big 12 at 100.6 yards rushing per game. The Wildcats limited him to 59 yards on 14 carries last season. - AP College Football
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: AP College Football
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Les Miles wasted no time addressing the biggest story around his Kansas football program. In his opening statement at Big 12 Media Days on Monday, Miles said, "There is no violence - violence will not be accepted with women, period. Action was taken imme diately." The "action" Miles alluded to was the suspension of running back Pooka Williams in December - a suspension announced the same day as Williams' arrest on suspicion of domestic battery. After spending more than seven months away from the team, Wi lliams was reinstated July 8. But he won't be eligible to play in KU's season opener Aug. 31 against Indiana State, with the university suspending him for one game as a result of his actions.Miles stands by the way he handled the situation. "We fe lt like a strong point was the made not only with Pooka Williams, but with the team," said Miles, entering his first year as the Jayhawks' head coach. "For seven and a half months Pooka was going through a process and he didn't have the opportunity to sp end time with his team, go to the weight room, you know, just be a part. Pooka went through legal investigation with the legal community. Pooka also had a proceeding that went through the conduct board at the university, and he basically understood that if he did not meet the criteria that the board asked that this would not last long. He really met every criteria that he could." - Manhattan Mercury
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: Manhattan Mercury
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New Kansas coach Les Miles says top running back Pooka Williams has been reinstated to the team, seven months after he was arrested and charged with domestic battery in a case involving an 18-year-old woman. Williams later reached a domestic violence div ersion agreement with the local district attorney's office. Miles says Williams, who will be suspended for the season opener Aug. 31 against Indiana State, went through a legal investigation and code of conduct proceedings with the university. Williams r an for 1,125 yards and seven touchdowns as a freshman last season. Miles was the head coach at Oklahoma State from 2001-04 before going to LSU, where he won a national championship. - AP College Football
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: AP College Football
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The Kansas football team's undeniable star a season ago, running back Pooka Williams, is rejoining the program after a seven-month suspension. Williams, who was arrested and charged with domestic battery in December before reaching a diversion agreement in the case, will miss the Jayhawks' season opener versus Indiana State as part of his punishment, KU announced on Monday."My behavior was unacceptable, and I'm very sorry to those who were impacted by my poor choices," Williams said in a news rel ease from KU Athletics. "I am disappointed in myself, not just as a man, but as a student-athlete looked up to by younger kids. My suspension from football has been hard, but I have learned from it. I'm thankful I can continue with my education at KU. Lo oking ahead, the most important thing to me is to regain the trust and respect of my classmates, teammates, and fans. I am humbled to return to football and to prepare for the season." - KUSports.com
(DS#20 RB) Jr/2021 RB *Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
News Source: KUSports.com
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