It’s the time of year when Pitt players have started to announce that they’ll return for the next season. There were a couple on Tuesday (Rashad Battle and Jake Overman), and there was another on Wednesday.
BJ Williams — a 6-foot-4, 315-pound offensive lineman from Lawrenceville, Ga. — announced on social media that he will return next season.
It’s a boost for the Pitt offensive line, a unit that suffered its fair share of troubles this season.
Williams tied for a team-high with 853 offensive snaps this season, all of them at right guard. He allowed 24 pressures and three sacks in the process.
He arrived as an early enrollee from Creekside High in Georgia and stepped into the starting lineup as a true freshman, which is very difficult for a player to do. He’s now played well over 1,000 snaps in just two seasons at Pitt.
Williams earned the Ed Conway Award in the spring for the most improved offensive player on the team.
“BJ is no longer a rookie on our offensive line and he carried himself like a veteran this spring,” Narduzzi said in the spring. “He is asserting himself as a leader, both by his play on the field and in our meeting room. We are really excited about the jump he took this spring and look forward to his continued progress come training camp.”
Williams has a lot of upside on the interior of the offensive line, and with fellow starters Ryan Baer and Lyndon Cooper slated to return, there’s hope play upfront will improve with a couple of additions from the transfer portal.
Pitt has extended offers to a few offensive linemen in the transfer portal already and is slated to host Western Carolina transfer Derek Simmons this weekend.
