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In an up and down season for the Oklahoma Sooners offense, the future began to take hold as two true freshmen started to make significant impacts on the field. Caleb Williams and Mario Williams were dynamic playmakers in 2021, providing big plays and a glimpse of what’s to come.
For their efforts, they’ve been selected to Pro Football Focus’ All-True Freshman Team by Anthony Treash.
Here’s what he had to say about quarterback Caleb Williams.
Williams performed at an extraordinary level — given his age — through his first four games as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback, but the true freshman was unable to sustain that level of play. He owned a 95.6 PFF grade in those first four games from Week 6 through 9 and a 60.3 grade in his last three games of the season. While that final stretch of subpar play led Oklahoma to two losses, he at least showed the five-star talent and a high ceiling for his playing career moving forward. Not to mention, producing three elite-graded games above 90.0 as a true freshman is unheard of. – Treash
Caleb Williams took college football by storm and put himself in Heisman contention through the first four games of his tenure as the Oklahoma Sooners quarterback. Against Texas, TCU, Kansas, and Texas Tech, Williams threw for 1,087 yards, completing 73.8% of his passes, 14 touchdowns, and just one interception. He also ran for 269 yards and three touchdowns, according to PFF, who doesn’t take rushing yards away due to sacks like the NCAA.
It was a hot start that reignited the Oklahoma Sooners offense after lackluster performances early in the season. But the good times came to an end in a loss to Baylor, and things didn’t look much better against Iowa State. Though it ended in a loss, Williams finished the season strong with his performance against Oklahoma State, one of the best defenses in the country.
At different points this season, it seemed like wide receiver Mario Williams would begin to get more run in the wide receiver rotation. Unfortunately, it never fully materialized. While he finished third on the team in targets, he was fourth among wide receivers in snaps. Some of that is due to missed time, but Michael Woods played one fewer game and ended up with 80 more snaps.
Regardless of how things went this season, Mario Williams showed he’s going to be a problem for defenses next season as well. Like Caleb, Mario earned a place on the All-True Freshman team. Here’s what Treash had to say.
Williams provided reliability for the Sooners, serving in a reserve role as a true freshman. He was one of five Power Five wide receivers to have at least 30 catchable targets and zero drops to their name. The 5-foot-9, 186-pound wide receiver primarily lined up on the outside and had no issue going one-on-one in single coverage. In all, he earned a 78.8 receiving grade for the 2021 season. Treash
Mario Williams’ high note of the season came against Texas Tech, where he recorded the first 100-yard game of his short career on five receptions and recorded a touchdown. Against Iowa State, with the offense struggling to move the football, Williams had a fantastic toe-touch reception for a touchdown that showed off his incredible athleticism, hands, and focus as he had to leap up to make the grab and find enough space to come down with his feet in bounds.
The future is bright with Caleb Williams and Mario Williams. Mario Williams will see even more opportunities in 2022 with Michael Woods graduating and Theo Wease and Jadon Haselwood hitting the transfer portal.
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