Lindale's Deandre Williams Wins Combine's Defensive MVP Award

TYLER -- Deandre Williams walked away with the 2014 ETSN.fm Recruiting Combine's Defensive Most Valuable Player plaque Sunday after very successful performance at the APEC training facility and a round of big plays during the one-on-one session at Tyler Lee High School.

The Lindale defensive back edged out John Tyler cornerback Isaac Warren, a Sam Houston State verbal commitment, for the top prize. Warren took home the defensive back's Most Valuable Player award.

"The camp was great," Williams said. "I came in nervous. I didn't think I was going to do as well as I did. Really, a person was pushing me. That person was Ike. As he was getting physical, it made me want to get more physical and try to outdo him. He was a good help and it became a good competition."

Williams (5-9 1/2, 168) checked into the combine with a group of other promising Eagles in De Jackson and Aaron Jackson.

He quickly caught the attention of the ETSN staff, several recruiting experts and APEC's NFL-caliber training staff with a 4.43 40-yard dash time, a pro agility time of 4.41 seconds and a Keiser squat of 2,620 watts.

Williams is a very physical cornerback in Lindale's system. That didn't necessarily show in the combine's limited-contact atmosphere, but he did jam some of East Texas' best receivers and made successful plays on the ball at its highest point from the very well-rounded quarterback pool.

The Eagles are hoping to make some noise in District 16-5A this fall. They'll take on the likes of Warren's John Tyler team, Offensive Most Valuable Player Carter McCown's Jacksonville squad, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Whitehouse plus Corsicana and Ennis.

"Lindale, we're a team," Williams said. "We stick together. We've got each other's backs no matter what. Coach (Mike) Meador pushes us and we go hard. We're just blessed to play with each other and this year we have a lot of talent."

The defensive back definitely is a good starting point for Meador's upcoming roster. He appears poised to find a scholarship opportunity and for a successful final high school season.

The next two months will be important in Williams' recruiting process. With a little bit of idle time, college football programs fill their summer days with open-enrollment evaluation camps.

Baylor, North Texas, TCU and Texas Tech will all be in the region within the next nine days while schools across the nation open their doors for on-campus camps or at host sites outside of the region.

"Me, I'm the crazy person," Williams said. "I'm the hype man. If it's just a big, studly receiver, Coach is always like, 'Hey Williams. Go get him.' I'm little, but I'm physical. I want to eat them up.

"I like to make the team crunk. If somebody is down, I like to be the one that makes them smile. I just want to be the man to change to momentum of the game. I think those are other things I can give to a college."

The upcoming days are crucial for Williams.

He's off to a hot start.

"Coming out to this camp was just to show me where my talents are and where I need to be," he said. "I'm looking forward to playing college football. If it's Division II, Division III, Division I, wherever God blesses me to go is where I'm going to go."