Williams Moving Up Fast

His times are dropping, his stock is rising, and Mike Williams is itching to begin the next stage of his football career.

“It was a really good day,” Williams told reporters Thursday after working out for about 50 NFL coaches, scouts and executives at the University of South Florida in Tampa, near his parents’ home.

“I think I did a lot to help myself. I got a lot of compliments from the guys that I didn’t get last year.”

Almost never does a player have two pro days. But Williams has had them this year and last because of his unusual situation. When a judge initially ruled former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett eligible for the draft a year early, Williams chose to declare as well and hired an agent, which made him ineligible to return to college football. But an appeals court reversed the Clarett decision, and, as a result, Williams and Clarett sat out last season.

Williams was a dazzling receiver for the Trojans and has outstanding size at 6 feet 5, 229 pounds.

The lingering question about him has been whether he’s fast enough to be a top-notch playmaker in the pros.

On Thursday, he ran times of 4.58 and 4.59 seconds in the 40-yard dash, nearly a tenth of a second faster than the times he registered when he ran for scouts last fall.

“You want to see a guy run,” said Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden, who attended Thursday’s workout with several members of his staff, as well as Buccaneer General Manager Bruce Allen and receiver Michael Clayton. “Obviously, speed is a great trait to have, and for a man who’s 6-5 and [229] pounds, he certainly possesses good speed for a big man.”

At last month’s scouting combine, Williams changed his mind and ran after having said he wouldn’t. His times were comparable to those he ran Thursday, when he also ran several other drills and caught passes thrown by former San Francisco 49er reserve quarterback Giovanni Carmazzi.

Before the combine, several scouts predicted Williams would be selected 10th to 15th in the first round of April’s draft. But the Buccaneers have the fifth pick, and Gruden indicated they would take a hard look at Williams -- provided he’s still there for them.

“He’s a guy we’ll definitely consider,” Gruden said.