Tag: Keith Williams

Ravens bringing in WR Sammy Watkins for a visit

The Baltimore Ravens are bringing free-agent wide receiver Sammy Watkins in for a visit, potentially helping to solidify the offense.

The Baltimore Ravens have been interested in adding a wide receiver this offseason. They at least inquired about Kenny Golladay and gave a significant offer to JuJu Smith-Schuster, but failed to land either pass catcher. Now the Ravens will take a shot at another free-agent wide receiver, bringing in Sammy Watkins for a visit, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

It’s a choice that makes quite a bit of sense. As I noted in our preview of the best wide receivers still remaining, Baltimore needs an outside possession receiver to match with Marquise Brown’s deep speed and tight end Mark Andrews’ ability to control the middle of the field. While Watkins hasn’t lived up to his star potential, he’s been a very serviceable player in that exact role for the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and Kansas City Chiefs throughout his seven-year career.

Watkins also has some connections in Baltimore that could draw his interest even more. The Ravens hired Keith Williams, who has been Watkins’ personal coach before, to be their new pass-game specialist. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman and Watkins were paired together in Buffalo for two seasons, including 2015 which was Watkins’ best season of his career, catching 60 passes for 1,047 yards and nine touchdowns.

Fans, analysts, and even former players have been critical of the Ravens’ run-first offensive philosophy this offseason. Though the position is often one of the top needs every single offseason, having former MVP Lamar Jackson under center only highlighted Baltimore’s lack of top talent at the position. While Watkins isn’t the biggest name on the market this offseason, the Ravens’ attempts to give Jackson another premier pass-catcher is notable.

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Ravens hire 4 new coaches, including former USC OC Tee Martin

The Ravens have upgraded their offense with the hiring of Tee Martin and Keith Williams while restocking their defensive coaching depth.

The Baltimore Ravens have seen quite a number of their position coaches leave this offseason and coach John Harbaugh is now filling the roles. According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, the Ravens have hired four new coaches, including Keith Williams as their passing game coordinator and former USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin as their wide receivers coach.

The offensive coaching hires seemingly point to Baltimore wanting to dramatically upgrade their passing attack and wide receiver development ability. Both Martin and Williams have been involved in developing some of the NFL’s bigger names at the position. According to Hensley, Williams has been a personal coach for guys like Sammy Watkins, Davante Adams, and Tyreek Hill. Martin has helped JuJu Smith-Schuster, Nelson Agholor, Marqise Lee, Robert Woods, and Randall Cobb, according to 6News’ Jordan Crammer in Tennessee.

While Baltimore boasted the NFL’s top rushing attack over the last two years, the passing game has been found wanting. They finished last in passing attempts and yards in 2020, while only being 17th in passing DVOA. Though Harbaugh had noted offensive coordinator Greg Roman would be returning in 2021, these hires point to a desire to really improve through the air.

In addition to Martin and Williams, Baltimore hired Jason Brooks as an assistant defensive line coach and Jay Peterson as an assistant linebackers coach. Brooks is the son of former defensive line coach Clarence Brooks, who passed away in 2016.

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Former Markelle Fultz trainer says he wasn’t hurt, Sixers did not believe in him

Trainer Keith Williams says the Philadelphia 76ers did not believe in Markelle Fultz and that he was never injured.

The Markelle Fultz saga for the Philadelphia 76ers is always a strange one. The Sixers traded up in the 2017 NBA Draft and selected the young man out of Washington with the number 1 overall pick. His career was then riddled with a lot of bizarre moments.

He only played in 14 games as a rookie playing the first four games before he was out for a substantial amount of time with a shoulder injury. He then returned and he played the final 10 games of the regular season and got some good experience.

He then was an opening night starter in his second season as coach Brett Brown was trying to instill some confidence in the young man. He played in 19 games, starting 15 of them, but then he left the team and he went to go see a shoulder specialist and was later diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome which ended his season and he was then traded to the Orlando Magic.

Fultz’s former trainer, Keith Williams, joined The No Particular Hurry podcast with Dave Early and he was asked if he believed Fultz ever had a physical injury:

Nope…I think he got caught up in doing what people around him told him to say and do. He’s a young person. It had to be strange for him, because up to that point, in terms of basketball, he only had to listen to my voice so now he had to listen to numerous voices and my voice wasn’t there so I think it was almost a comfort to him to kinda hide. To almost become a different person.

Williams had been training Fultz since he was 7-years old and has known him for, obviously, a long time. The quote suggests that maybe this was all in Fultz’s head and that there was too much going on off the floor. He worked with him on his jump shot and he said in the past that when he saw Fultz’s new release he noticed it quickly and that Fultz told him “it feels like somebody’s holding my arms down”.

Former Sixers assistant general manager Marc Eversley, who is now the general manager of the Chicago Bulls, was high on Fultz and he wanted to bring him here. However, when times got tough, Williams added that the team did not believe in either Eversley or Fultz:

I just don’t think when the chips got down, I don’t think people believed in him or Markelle…for all we talk about Markelle averaging 13 or 14 this year, that’s what he would’ve averaged in Philly if he just played a lot. He averaged six or seven coming off the bench, it’s the same thing. He’s not a better player. He’s just playing more minutes and Orlando’s been gracious. Everything I’ve heard is that they don’t deal with negativity. If somebody ask him a question, they pretty much just walk away from it. For him, that’s a great thing, but I think he owes them that much to actually try and figure out what his problems are and make the best of it.

Fultz averaged 12.1 points and 5.1 assists as a starter for the Magic this season and he played well in the playoffs, but it’s looking like there was too much going on around him to really succeed in Philadelphia. A place like Orlando is good for him to focus more on basketball and fixing his own issues right now. [lawrence-related id=37843,37953,28070]

UNLV at Cincinnati: Game Preview, TV & Radio Schedule, Live Stream, Odds, More

UNLV at Cincinnati: Game Preview, TV, Radio, Live Stream, Odds, More Bearcats could inch closer to Top 25 with win over UNLV Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire Rebels embark on three-game road trip, starting with a dangerous Cincy squad WHO: …

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UNLV at Cincinnati: Game Preview, TV, Radio, Live Stream, Odds, More

Bearcats could inch closer to Top 25 with win over UNLV

Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

Rebels embark on three-game road trip, starting with a dangerous Cincy squad

WHO: UNLV (3-5, 0-0 MWC) at Cincinnati (4-2, 0-0 AAC)

WHEN: Saturday, November 30 — 5:00 P.M. MT / 4:00 P.M. PT

WHERE: Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati, OH

WATCH: ESPN3; Get a free one-week trial of FuboTV.

LISTEN: TuneIn

ALL-TIME RECORD: Cincinnati leads, 6-0

ODDS: Cincinnati -14, per KenPom

PREVIEW: The Rebels finally have a little bit of momentum back after dismantling Jackson State on Tuesday—and they’ll need it for arguably their toughest game of the early season against Cincinnati.

The tilt with the Bearcats is UNLV’s first in a three-game road trip, which also features their MWC opener against Fresno State and a semi-neutral site matchup in Salt Lake City against BYU.

The shooting woes that had plagued the Rebels throughout the first handful of games were nowhere to be found in their 80-57 win over Jackson State. The team shot 57.1% from the field and 45% from downtown. That’s exactly the kind of production UNLV will need to take down Cincinnati.

Junior guard Amauri Hardy leads the team with 18.3 points and 3.5 assists per game, followed by transfers Donnie Tillman (12.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG) and  Elijah Mitrou-Long (10.9 PPG, 3.9 APG).

And though Hardy led the way again on Tuesday with 20 points, the most important offensive contribution of the night came from junior Chiekh Mbacke Diong. The Senegalese big man tallied 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while also pulling down six of his 13 rebounds on the offensive glass. It was a huge outburst out of a player who has been notably anemic on that end of the floor.

Bryce Hamilton and Nick Blair also pitched in 12 points apiece, which could signal an important development for TJ Otzelberger. This team needs scoring support behind Hardy, Tillman, and Mitrou-Long. If they can get it, they could turn into a top-half team in the Mountain West. Getting transfer sharpshooter Jonah Antonio back in the lineup will help that cause.

But first, they have to take on a talented Cincinnati squad that has been receiving votes for the Top 25.

New head coach John Brannen has seen a few stumbles in his first couple games at the helm for the Bearcats, including an overtime loss at the Paradise Jam on Tuesday against Bowling Green. Cincinnati recovered to claw out an overtime win of their own against Valparaiso the next day.

While the Bearcats have been pretty good defensively, the offense has not held up its end of the bargain. The offseason was full of promise after it was announced that Oakland transfer Jaevin Cumberland would be joining his cousin (and one of the best players in the American), Jarron.

Though the team does have five players averaging double-digits (or very close), including both Cumberlands, the Bearcats have been plagued by turnovers. They committed 58 giveaways in three games at the Paradise Jam, barely eking out a 2-1 record, including their one-point victory over Illinois State in their first game at the event.

UNLV has had its fair share of issues with ball security, too, so expect this game to get a little sloppy.

Junior seven-footer Chris Vogt and senior forward Tre Scott average a combined 23 points and 17 rebounds, presenting a big challenge for the Rebels in the frontcourt. Keith Williams has also been a solid source of offense for the Bearcats.

But with the Bearcats suddenly struggling—and coming off some long travel to and from the Virgin Islands—the Rebels may have a chance to catch Cincinnati on the ropes.

All told, it will be difficult for UNLV to escape with a victory against a Cincinnati team that is probably bound for the NCAA Tournament. If the Rebels can grab a big road win here, it will give them a boost to get through the back half of their non-conference schedule.

Prediction: Cincinnati 74, UNLV 66

Andrew is a current USBWA member, covering college basketball for multiple outlets, including Mountain West Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Busting Brackets of the FanSided Network. He also runs the Dieckhoff Power Index, a college basketball analytics system, and provides bracketology predictions throughout the season.

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