After seemingly announcing the addition several weeks ago, Illinois finally signed Deon "Don't Call me Deron" Williams to continue to fill out the defensive line on June 1.  Williams joins the Illini after a year at City College of San Francisco, which was his only offer coming out of high school.  Its hard to believe that Williams wasn't on any Division I radars a year ago, yet after he posted the HUDL film below on April 7 he received the following offers in quick succession: Kansas State on April 9, Illinois on April 10, Kansas on April 10, Louisville on April 11, Colorado on April 15.  With only 1 year in junior college, Williams will have 4 years to play 3, though Illini fans are keenly aware that there is a lack of size and quality on the defensive line, and Williams' 6'1 290 pound frame might be put right into action.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

College of San Francisco listed Williams at 6'1, 260 last year after he arrived from Henderson, Nevada.  If you watch the video below, you'll see what drew offers from so many schools through the Spring. Williams isn't a top athlete, but he has quickness and burst that can make him a factor in the middle of a defense.  He shows strong pass rush moves for a relative novice, and he even has the hustle chase down play that has been a fixture with Illinois defensive staffs.  Williams gets exposed a bit on the plays when he lines up as a stand up outside linebacker because he's not fast enough to be a difference maker out there.   His run defense and hand usage in dealing with blockers is also below par.   However, there's plenty to like on the rest of these clips.

http://www.hudl.com/v/2SgYdf

Here's the bad news though: If you read this column you know how bad Illinois' track record has been with players from the California Junior College Leagues.  I could list the failed prospects again here, but it will only depress you.  Suffice it to say that Illinois has signed a player from these leagues 21 times since Ron Zook left, and none of them are success stories.  Not only that, but Williams didn't exactly excel overall with College of San Francisco.  Though he didn't play much early in the year as he earned the coaches' trust, he only totaled 25 tackles and 3 tackles for loss through the year.  Then there's the issue of Williams' size.  He listed himself at 6'3, 275 on his high school roster, but that was clearly untrue, and I believe that his listed 6'1 260 on the college roster was accurate.  However, Williams is listing himself at 6'1 290 in this recruiting cycle and those are the numbers on the school's announcement.  So, did Williams actually gain 30 pounds of good weight in the 5 months since his season ended?  Is that a fictional number too?  What kind of player will he be if he is actually that size?  These are all very big questions and there's just no way for Illini nation to know the answers.  I tend to think that the weight gain is real though, because in researching how Kansas State, Kansas, Louisville and Colorado's fans/ bloggers thought of Williams, they universally seemed to believe he was an interior defensive lineman.

Where does he fit in?

We all know the Illini defensive line was shredded during the transfer portal.  Even with Joe Barna shifting to the defensive line full time, the unit was looking at a size and talent deficit.  Pat Farrell is the only player returning to the unit who earned significant playing time last year.  To fill in the gaps, Illinois added likely starters Carter Janki and Darrell Prater to the line along with Connor Sullivan, Isaiah Thomison and fellow late JUCO addition Josh Davis.  Freshmen King Liggins, Parker Crim, Tony Balanganyani and Kingston Shaw join returning bench players Demetrius John and Isaiah White.  Cameron Brooks injured an Achilles this Spring and is going to be out for the year.  I mentioned in the Davis piece that Illinois finally had the "pair and a spare" that signifies solid depth and that I finally felt like they had a decent defensive line corps.  So, adding another player who can potentially play in the middle and has four P4 offers brings some much-needed insurance that should make Illini fans feel better.  It goes without saying that no one should be looking for any of these guys on pre-season defensive award watch lists.  However, with this many guys available, I'm feeling pretty good about Illinois' chance of fielding 6 quality defensive lineman on a weekly basis.

As far as the excitement scale, let's put it this way: there are only two NFL players who've played for College of San Francisco.  One is punter Lou Hedley, who punted poorly for one season in New Orleans.  The other is O.J. Simpson.  That represents the range of results you can expect from Deon Williams as an Illini.  His poor stats against poor competition in the weak CCCAA mean he could be completely forgettable. On the other hand, the quick rise from unrecruited high schooler to regular on a junior college team to recruit with 5 high major offers in six days with P4 size means he could be a remarkable unheralded recruit in the vein of Devon Witherspoon.  However, the smart money is on Williams needing some acclimation and coaching even if the later is true, so don't count on much from him this fall.  Ideally he would redshirt and get some much needed skill and physical training to emerge in 2027 with 3 years of eligibility.  I'd give him a 5, but I'm increasing the level an entire letter only because I'm happy to see the Illini beating the bushes to add another defensive lineman.  Give this addition a 6.