Get to Know Your Orange Man: #98, P James Williams

New football season. New Dome name. New reasons for optimism for Syracuse Orange fans? Let’s get to meeting the 2022 Orange....up next is

Name: James Williams

Position: Punter/Placekicker

Year: Sophomore

Height: 6’1”

Weight: 206 lbs.

Hometown: Watkinsville, Ga.

High School: Athens Academy

2021 stats: The starter for the majority of any punting that was occuring, Williams punted 39 times for an average of 38.44 yards and two over 50-yard punts.

2022 projections: Williams is the presumptive starter at punter for the Syracuse Orange. There is a little more competition tis year with incoming freshman Max Von Marburg but Williams at this point is still the man. He’s also a potential backup placekicker for Andre Szmyt if you need to break glass in case of emergency.

How’d he get here?: Offers included Air Force, Army, and Hawaii.

What’d recruiting sites say?: Three stars from the main sources. Kohl’s Kicking gave Williams five stars and ranked him the No. 4 punter in the class of 2020 as well as the No. 13 placekicker.

Money quote: The scouting report on Williams is pretty promising for Syracuse fans that enjoy flaunting our superior punters.

“Williams had some very impressive moments at camp and had multiple 50+ yard, 4.5+ second hang time punts. He is a tall athletic specialist who has a bright future ahead of him at the next level.”

Twitter feed: @jameswill2020

Tweets of wonder: You need a good “Specialist Golf Outing” every once in a while.

Interesting nugget o’interest: The Orange’s last three punters have all signed with NFL teams at one point, including Riley Dixon (Broncos, Giants, Rams), Sterling Hofrichter (Atlanta, Tampa Bay) and Nolan Cooney (signed deal with Saints). Williams looks to have a solid year under Bob Ligashesky and hopefully continue the trend in a few years.

Let’s get a look at ya: Kicking an punting tape from Kohl’s Kicking camps.