Senior CJ Williams is certainly not the first undersized skill player to make a notable impact on a Navy offense. But he is probably one of the more versatile players to do so.
The Navy coaching staff has long made it a focus to find, sign and develop smallish slot backs to fuel the Navy attack — tough enough to embrace the thankless, high-priority task of blocking in Navy's run-heavy, spread option, and athletic enough to gain yardage when the occasional play call steers the ball into their hands.
Navy's recruiters embrace a challenging reality. They realize the most attractive backfield prospects loaded with size and speed will get absorbed early in the process by Power Five schools. The Mids go all-in on the overlooked at many positions. Slot back is a prime example of that established, successful plan.
Which brings us to the intriguing case of Clynton Jefferson Williams, who fits the Navy mold perfectly and is arguably the most productive slot back to grace its roster since Williams broke into the starting lineup in 2018.
Williams, who is listed at 5-feet-8, 175 pounds, has never dominated a Navy game. But that's hardly the point. In the eyes of Navy players and coaches, the soft-spoken Williams, who majors in robotics and control engineering and is nicknamed "Slick" and "Smooth," has affected countless Navy efforts.
"CJ is a silent assassin. He doesn't say much of anything," Navy offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper says of Williams. "He's not a real big or blazing fast guy. But the kid is such a savvy football player who just makes plays. He's so consistent. I don't think he's ever had a bad game."
"[Williams] is one of the most complete slot backs we've ever had," adds Ken Niumatalolo, Navy's 13th-year head coach. "He's one of the smartest players we have at any position. He takes in everything like a sponge. He's obviously made a lot of plays with the ball in his hands, but he makes a lot of them with the ball not in his hands."
"He learns everything so fast," adds Navy slot backs coach Joe DuPaix. "He's got enough nasty in him that I think he's a feared blocker, and he's phenomenal with the ball. He's a no-nonsense player who just does his job."
"Yeah, CJ is soft-spoken, but he is passionate about what he does. He takes his business very seriously," adds senior slot back Myles Fells. "If he pulls up any defense on film [of a Navy opponent], he can tell you everybody's job. He's always listening, observing, learning, taking mental notes."
The raw data concurs with each assertion. In 28 games played and 13 started over the past three seasons, Williams has touched the ball a combined 108 times from scrimmage — 86 at slot back, 18 as a receiver, four as a passer.
With the ball in his hands just 3.9 times per game, Williams has yielded an average of 9.6 yards per touch in his career.
With the ball out of his hands, Williams consistently grades out as the team's best blocking slot back, on an offense that usually finishes at or near the top of the FBS in rushing yards. That assignment typically calls for Williams to take on opposing linebackers who outweigh him by at least 50 pounds, or taller defensive backs exceeding the 200-pound mark.
To watch Williams explode into a block downfield or on the perimeter is to watch the same undersized Texas kid knock people much bigger than he on the turf in his Pop Warner days.
"C.J. was always smaller than everyone in his class. He's been doubted so much because of his size," says April Williams, his mother. "He doesn't do a lot of talking. But that chip on his shoulder developed early on. He knew he had to toughen up and go hard. That's still how he plays."
And the product of Byron P. Steele High School from the San Antonio suburb of Cibolo, where Williams played three varsity seasons at slot receiver and became the school's all-time leader in catches (160) and receiving yards (2,126) with a superb senior season that saw him haul in 75 receptions for 971 yards and nine TD catches, has shined at many key moments in Annapolis.
The Williams highlight reel during last season's historic 11-2 finish — the second-largest, single-season turnaround in win-loss record in FBS history — provides a mini-showcase of Williams' value and versatility.
On Navy's first scoring play that set the tone in an easy win over arch-rival Army, Williams shined in the shadows. Lined up at slot back, Williams alertly adjusted to a well-disguised cornerback blitz and cleared the path for Malcolm Perry's long scoring run by cutting down the blitzer on his right.
"Everybody is celebrating with Malcolm. But if CJ isn't there, that play doesn't work," says Niumatalolo, who adds that an injury — a knee ailment Williams later addressed with offseason surgery — had severely limited Williams' practice time leading up to the Army game.
In the Liberty Bowl, Navy appeared headed for overtime against Kansas State, as Navy faced a fourth-and-three near midfield in the closing seconds. But instead of punting, Navy called for a halfback option pass and Williams received the pitch-out from Perry in the right flat and lofted a 41-yard completion to Chance Warren, setting up the game-winning, 23-yard field goal by Bijan Nichols as time expired. The Mids capped their historic year with a 20-17 win.
On October 5, 2019, at packed Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, Navy controlled Air Force early and led for much of the way. But the Mids had to come from behind in the final minutes to win (and eventually take another CIC trophy). Without Williams' well-timed heroics as a receiver, history likely would have played out differently.
On a second-and-20 from the Navy 33 with 2:23 left in the contest, Perry threw a deep ball down the right sideline, where a taller Air Force cornerback ran step-for-step with Williams, but had his back to the ball. Williams calculated and slowed down, allowing the DB to ease past him slightly. Williams then leaned in, leaped and made a twisting catch nearly off the back of his defender.
That 32-yard reception gave the Mids the spark they needed, as Perry rushed for the go-ahead touchdown in the closing seconds of a 34-25 victory iced by a defensive score as time expired.
And to think Williams, despite his impact at Steele High in the high-powered Class 6A Division II level —Steele lost in the state final in Williams' last game and remains a perennial state playoff contender and a top 10 program in the region — was contemplating an Ivy League future at either Columbia, Harvard, Princeton or Brown, before Navy came calling. Williams didn't even draw interest from Navy's service academy rivals.
"I'm used to it," says Williams, who did not commit to Navy until late in his senior year, after weighing the pros and cons of going the military route as a college player. Williams' father, Gregory Williams, is set to retire soon as a Major after 20 years in the U.S. Army.
"I told myself when I was younger that I wasn't going to be in the military, because I didn't like all of the moving around we did," adds Williams, recalling moves to Honolulu, Hawaii, then Tyler, Texas, then Lawton, Oklahoma, before settling in San Antonio.
"But as time went on in my senior year, I realized there were a lot of guys [I knew] that would go to a regular college and wouldn't have much to show for it," Williams adds. "Football is not guaranteed and it's not going to last forever. I wanted to put myself in a position where I'm on a good path, once football is over."
"CJ wanted to get a great education and serve [his country] and play a high level of football against a high level of competition," says Gregory Williams, who, in addition to his career as a nurse and surgical services manager with the U.S. Army, has a personal training business that started with his two sons, L.G. and C.J. The Williams' garage functions as a full gym facility.
LG Willams is two years older and was a high school quarterback at Steele. He and CJ were teammates for two seasons. CJ Williams credits his older brother for helping him to develop his route-running and catching fundamentals.
Navy recruited LG Williams, who decided to play at Texas State. By the time his senior year rolled around, CJ Williams decided he needed to explore a Navy option. He asked a position coach at Steele to reach out to Navy assistant Danny O'Rourke, who recruits in Texas and was coaching Navy's slot backs at the time.
CJ Williams arrived for plebe summer, direct from San Antonio, in 2017. He spent his plebe year primarily on the scout team. By the following spring, Williams clearly was making the strides of varsity material. He would start two of the 11 games in which he appeared in 2018, which was a learning experience.
Williams suffered a concussion against Air Force and would miss the following two games against Temple and Houston. In his first start later that year against SMU, Williams led the Mids in rushing with 82 yards, including a 52-yarder for his first touchdown. Those moments partially got lost in Navy's 3-10 finish.
Last year, Williams never missed a game, despite a back injury that left him with severe spasms early in the season and the knee injury that slowed him in its late stages.
His 80-yard TD catch in a blowout win against East Carolina remains a career best. His 33-yard pass reception and season-long 21-yard run were highlights in a close win against SMU. He finished the year rushing for 298 yards and three scores, collecting 210 receiving yards and two more touchdowns and completing three of four pass attempts for 90 more yards and a touchdown.
But it's those countless, effective blocks thrown by Williams that stick in the minds of the Mids.
"I just admire the way CJ goes in there and tries to blow up guys who are like 6-5, 270, and gives them all they can take," says senior nose guard Chris Pearson.
"CJ bullies linebackers. He enjoys putting people in their place. He definitely embraces the A-back mentality," adds senior striker Austin Talbert-Loving.
"If you didn't know CJ and he walked into a room, you wouldn't know how physically and mentally tough he is," O'Rourke says. "He's not rah-rah, but he wants to win in the worst way and knock the crap out of people. It comes down to a will to sell out and get better and win. I can't say enough about his competitive spirit. He is a stone-cold competitor."
