11/4/2023 football Edit

Vols' Dee Williams makes anticipated debut on offensive side of the ball

Tennessee defensive back Dee Williams (3) returns a kick as he's upended by UConn defensive back Malik Dixon-Williams (1) during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Ryan Sylvia • VolReport

Assistant Managing Editor

Born in Knoxville, Tenn. and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Covering football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball and recruiting for VolReport.

After a big return helped Tennessee take down Texas A&M earlier in the season, return man Dee Williams confirmed the rumors that he is no longer a defensive back.

Instead, the shifty athlete said he is working on the offensive side of the ball. From this point, the secret was out that Williams was practicing to get the necessary understanding of the offense to play in the slot.

However, Williams remained sidelined in the following pair of games while the offense was on the field.

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This changed on Saturday in the Vols' 59-3 win over UConn. With the bench cleared, it created the perfect chance to get Williams real-game reps with the offense.

Williams' first snap on the offensive side came in the first half. However, while looking to him for a screen, the Huskies' defense read the play and began to collapse. This caused quarterback Joe Milton III to tuck the ball.

Ultimately, the play was called back for holding and Williams was subbed off.

This wasn't it for him, though. Later in the game, he returned to the field where he recorded his first reception. The ball came from backup quarterback Nico Iamaleava on a shovel pass. Williams took it 11 yards to move the chains.

With Dont'e Thornton primarily playing outside receiver now, Williams was one of the first to relieve Squirrel White in the slot.

As the pair of players are at the same position, White has a unique perspective of him at practice. Despite this, he still can't believe the weapon Tennessee has behind him.

"Dee, special player," said White. "Get the ball in his hands and he can do whatever he wants to do with it. Just seeing him on offense is crazy knowing what he can do with the ball in his hands."

While this worked as Williams' offensive debut, head coach Josh Heupel previously had plans to use him against Kentucky a week ago. However, with the way the game transpired, he had to scratch the idea.

The biggest hurdle is getting him integrated enough on offense that he can stay on the field for multiple plays in a row. Williams is still working to this point where he can be trusted but has grown a lot in this area.

“I planned on playing him last week, too," said Heupel. "Just the way things unfolded, some of the structure stuff, weren’t prepared to get him in the game in the situations that we were in. He’s continued to grow and has a real grasp of a lot of what we’re doing offensively. So, the opportunity was there this week to play him and anticipate doing that moving forward, too.”

Next, the Vols will travel to Columbia to face Missouri on the road. It can be expected that Williams gets a chance again this season with three games remaining on the schedule.

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