Returning All-ACC second-team right tackle, team captain, and the one SMU lineman national draft media keeps circling — On3 has floated a 2027 first-round projection and Yahoo gave him the full summer-scouting treatment. Williams pairs a top-70 recruiting pedigree with legitimate production at 6-5, 313, and Phil Steele put him on a preseason All-America list; on paper it is the tackle package evaluators want. However, this grade deliberately lags the buzz. Preseason first-round projections for tackles outside the blue bloods evaporate more often than they stick, one season of second-team all-conference play is a thinner resume than the headlines imply, and he drew 2026-class draft profiles before returning without a firm market ever forming. Late-round track on today's evidence — but tackles with his measurables and a dominant ACC fall have jumped two rounds in a single season before, and he is the most obvious candidate on this roster to do it.