Cincinnati Bengals: Pooka Williams a possible undrafted star

So much attention has been paid to the Cincinnati Bengals‘ offense to the recovery process of quarterback Joe Burrow to the addition of wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, to the offensive line upgrades the team had to make. Very little attention has been paid to the fact that one of the team’s longest-tenured players — running back Giovani Bernard — was let go in the 2021 offseason and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Bernard carried the ball 124 times last season with three touchdowns and also caught 47 passes with three more scores as a receiver.

It wasn’t anything earth-shattering, but it was certainly one of the most productive seasons of Bernard’s career in terms of yards from scrimmage plus touchdown production, and the Cincinnati Bengals are going to have to find some way to replace that.

Although it may seem unlikely, a darkhorse candidate to do exactly that is 2021 undrafted free agent Pooka Williams, one of the most intriguing UDFA pickups in the 2021 circuit.

Williams was a three-year starter at Kansas who opted out after four games in the 2020 season.

He was the first Kansas running back since Gale Sayers to run for over 2,000 yards in his first two seasons on campus, and back in 2018, he lit up the Big 12 and became a freshman All-American.

In Williams’ freshman All-American campaign, he ran for 1,125 yards, seven touchdowns, caught 33 passes, and added 289 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver.

Williams continued his dual-threat abilities in his sophomore season with over 1,000 rushing yards again in addition to another pair of receiving touchdowns.

Williams has a number of off-field issues that contributed to his going undrafted in 2021 despite having elite speed and some tremendous production — especially early on — for the Jayhawks. He was charged with domestic battery in 2018 when he allegedly grabbed and pushed his girlfriend. He was suspended in 2019 for the incident and was ineligible for a game in 2018 for an unrelated reason.

With his diminutive size — Williams checked in at his pro day at under 5-foot-9, 175 pounds — Williams could be in danger of being a durability concern at the NFL level, but he runs away from defenders so easily it’s hard to be too worried about it.

The Cincinnati Bengals may find early on that getting Williams the ball in the open field as a receiver is his fastest track to immediate NFL success. He can also contribute as a kickoff return specialist and that is one area where I think he will be able to get himself onto the 53-man roster right away.

Williams does a good job staying on his feet on initial contact which is rather surprising given his size profile.

At the line of scrimmage, he does a good job of navigating through traffic, finding openings, and accelerating through them.

Overall, it’s no surprise that Williams was undrafted given his off-field history, size issues, and dwindling production over three years at Kansas. However, with the potential he’s shown as both a runner and receiver out of the backfield, as well as in the return game, there’s no question that the Cincinnati Bengals could get him into Giovani Bernard’s role sooner rather than later.