Kasen Williams

The_Undertaker

With the end of the preseason coming soon, and the likeliness we won't throw the ball much this saturday, I wanted to ask you guys your thoughts on Kasen Williams. What do you expect from him going forward? Do you think he has regressed? Is he just being eased in after his injury? Will we ever see him back to full strength, and can the team perform without a big possession receiver?

I'm not sure about the answers to these questions, but I can't help to feel a little sad about Kasen.

I can't believe he is already a senior. He was never gonna be Calvin Johnson for us but I feel like he could have been the main man of the passing offense at least, like a Kearse. He is slow but he is tough, big and physical.
He is already running out of time and he never really became the star we thought he would be. Part of this is the shitty bubble screen Sark ball, part of this is injury. I really hope we get to see him shine this season, he deserves it and we might need it more than we think.

Swaye

Sark ruined him. Enough said on that.

MisterEm

He should be the collegiate Anquan Boldin - but the ball was favored for body types more akin to promoting the bubble screen revolution.

He looks slower than the slow he was before the lisfranc, sadly. There is still hope as the timeline for complete recovery is 18-24 months.

EsophagealFeces

I think he's still working his way back to being 100%. A Lisfranc injury is no joke. Hopefully he'll be 100% by the time the REAL season starts, because I definitely think we're going to need him to have be a factor in order for UW to have the kind of season we're all expecting. Every QB needs a safety valve, and Cyler doesn't appear to have one right now other than taking off and running. Having a reliable possession receiver like Kasen can help limit the hits Cyler takes, which is vital to our success. If Miles gets hurt, TSIFO. I have zero confidence in Lindquist and even less in Williams given that he lost the QB battle cripple fight while Cyler was suspended.

PurpleReign

I think it's a combination of coming back from an injury, our subpar passing game, and Kasen's lack of getting separation which isn't good when your QB is not terribly accurate nor has any zip. You got to throw Kasen jump balls as I highly doubt there are very many players in the league who could out jump Kasen for a ball. Though, that is how he got hurt, but he is either healed or he isn't.

Swaye

PurpleReign said:

I think it's a combination of coming back from an injury, our subpar passing game, and Kasen's lack of getting separation which isn't good when your QB is not terribly accurate nor has any zip. You got to throw Kasen jump balls as I highly doubt there are very many players in the league who could out jump Kasen for a ball. Though, that is how he got hurt, but he is either healed or he isn't.</</b>blockquote>

Either way, it will be interesting.

dnc

Kasen was never that great. He's been simultaneously overrated and underutilized his whole career. He was a doog wet dream after great games as a frosh against WSU and Baylor. Like Keef Prce, he was never as good as he looked in the Alamo Bowel.

My expectations for this season couldn't be any lower. He should have redshirted this year but Jaylen Johnson got kicked off the team and screwed that up. He'll have some nice games blocking for bubble screens but be pretty invisible otherwise. He'll have a solid Arena Football career once he fully heals.

EsophagealFeces

dnc said:

Kasen was never that great. He's been simultaneously overrated and underutilized his whole career. He was a doog wet dream after great games as a frosh against WSU and Baylor. Like Keef Prce, he was never as good as he looked in the Alamo Bowel.

My expectations for this season couldn't be any lower. He should have redshirted this year but Jaylen Johnson got kicked off the team and screwed that up. He'll have some nice games blocking for bubble screens but be pretty invisible otherwise. He'll have a solid Arena Football career once he fully heals.

Good poont. He could do well in the AFL given that he has good hands, and the fact that the only way he could get separation from a DB is if he got a running start.

PurpleReign

WTF does Jaylen Johnson have to do with Kasen?

dnc

PurpleReign said:

WTF does Jaylen Johnson have to do with Kasen?

You new here?

MisterEm

Under coached + Poorly utilized = Sarked.

RoadDawg55

dnc said:

Kasen was never that great. He's been simultaneously overrated and underutilized his whole career. He was a doog wet dream after great games as a frosh against WSU and Baylor. Like Keef Prce, he was never as good as he looked in the Alamo Bowel.

My expectations for this season couldn't be any lower. He should have redshirted this year but Jaylen Johnson got kicked off the team and screwed that up. He'll have some nice games blocking for bubble screens but be pretty invisible otherwise. He'll have a solid Arena Football career once he fully heals.

He will play in the NFL if he can get healthy. By February and the combine, he should be fine. I think a team takes a chance on him in the later rounds. You're underselling him. He had a good freshman year. Then he caught a ton of balls as a sophomore. Last year he was playing well, but was underused. The offense wasn't built for a go to receiver either. It was pretty spread out last year instead of throwing it almost exclusively to ASJ and Kasen. This year, he's not healthy, we are a run heavy team, and Miles is a below average passing QB who lacks the arm strength to throw it outside. Miles has mostly thrown to the slot and TE because that's where he can get the ball to. I bet KW has some nice games as the season goes on though, and Petersen has commented about wanting to get him the ball more.

The myth is/was he couldn't go deep, but he can. He did as a freshman and he did some last year. The play he got hurt on was after he completely burned the DB. The reason he didn't as a sophomore was because the line couldn't hold a block for more than two seconds. He was overrated by Scout coming out of high school, but he's always been really good. Hopefully, he gets it back this season because we will need him at some point.

creepycoug

RoadDawg55 said:

dnc said:

Kasen was never that great. He's been simultaneously overrated and underutilized his whole career. He was a doog wet dream after great games as a frosh against WSU and Baylor. Like Keef Prce, he was never as good as he looked in the Alamo Bowel.

My expectations for this season couldn't be any lower. He should have redshirted this year but Jaylen Johnson got kicked off the team and screwed that up. He'll have some nice games blocking for bubble screens but be pretty invisible otherwise. He'll have a solid Arena Football career once he fully heals.

He will play in the NFL if he can get healthy. By February and the combine, he should be fine. I think a team takes a chance on him in the later rounds. You're underselling him. He had a good freshman year. Then he caught a ton of balls as a sophomore. Last year he was playing well, but was underused. The offense wasn't built for a go to receiver either. It was pretty spread out last year instead of throwing it almost exclusively to ASJ and Kasen. This year, he's not healthy, we are a run heavy team, and Miles is a below average passing QB who lacks the arm strength to throw it outside. Miles has mostly thrown to the slot and TE because that's where he can get the ball to. I bet KW has some nice games as the season goes on though, and Petersen has commented about wanting to get him the ball more.

The myth is/was he couldn't go deep, but he can. He did as a freshman and he did some last year. The play he got hurt on was after he completely burned the DB. The reason he didn't as a sophomore was because the line couldn't hold a block for more than two seconds. He was overrated by Scout coming out of high school, but he's always been really good. Hopefully, he gets it back this season because we will need him at some point.

how could you feature anybody in the passing attack not named John Ross on this team?

Williams is a possession receiver in the mold of a Michael Irvin, except he's not as bad ass as the Playmaker was. That kind of Harold Carmichael type - it's all between the ears and in your ball sack, and some guys have it and some don't. Williams hasn't grown up in a program that demands of its receivers that they be that tough and disciplined and fearless and over-the-top confident. Irvin had no choice but to be those things and to use his body and run great routes and make phenomenal catches in traffic because he played on teams that featured at various times Eddie Brown, Brett Perriman and Brian Blades.

Williams physically reminds me a lot of Irvin, with better hops, but that's where the comparison ends.

Swaye

creepycoug said:

RoadDawg55 said:

dnc said:

Kasen was never that great. He's been simultaneously overrated and underutilized his whole career. He was a doog wet dream after great games as a frosh against WSU and Baylor. Like Keef Prce, he was never as good as he looked in the Alamo Bowel.

My expectations for this season couldn't be any lower. He should have redshirted this year but Jaylen Johnson got kicked off the team and screwed that up. He'll have some nice games blocking for bubble screens but be pretty invisible otherwise. He'll have a solid Arena Football career once he fully heals.

He will play in the NFL if he can get healthy. By February and the combine, he should be fine. I think a team takes a chance on him in the later rounds. You're underselling him. He had a good freshman year. Then he caught a ton of balls as a sophomore. Last year he was playing well, but was underused. The offense wasn't built for a go to receiver either. It was pretty spread out last year instead of throwing it almost exclusively to ASJ and Kasen. This year, he's not healthy, we are a run heavy team, and Miles is a below average passing QB who lacks the arm strength to throw it outside. Miles has mostly thrown to the slot and TE because that's where he can get the ball to. I bet KW has some nice games as the season goes on though, and Petersen has commented about wanting to get him the ball more.

The myth is/was he couldn't go deep, but he can. He did as a freshman and he did some last year. The play he got hurt on was after he completely burned the DB. The reason he didn't as a sophomore was because the line couldn't hold a block for more than two seconds. He was overrated by Scout coming out of high school, but he's always been really good. Hopefully, he gets it back this season because we will need him at some point.

how could you feature anybody in the passing attack not named John Ross on this team?

Williams is a possession receiver in the mold of a Michael Irvin, except he's not as bad ass as the Playmaker was. That kind of Harold Carmichael type - it's all between the ears and in your ball sack, and some guys have it and some don't. Williams hasn't grown up in a program that demands of its receivers that they be that tough and disciplined and fearless and over-the-top confident. Irvin had no choice but to be those things and to use his body and run great routes and make phenomenal catches in traffic because he played on teams that featured at various times Eddie Brown, Brett Perriman and Brian Blades.

Williams physically reminds me a lot of Irvin, with better hops, but that's where the comparison ends.

I think Irvin had better hands, better body control, was better in traffic, and had balls you could haul around in a wheelbarrow. Which is pretty much what you meant, but I just wanted to talk about huge balls. Sort of unfair to compare a college kid to a NFL Hall of Famer, but I think a lot of people hoped Kasen would be in his mold - slower type guy but who would develop into a great body control/route runner type guy who would just outmuscle/outnut his opponents. Never happened. Sark ruined him, as I said above.

digits

Hasn't performed up to the expectations of wearing Chuck Carroll's "retired" No. 2 jersey, that's for sure.

creepycoug

Swaye said:

creepycoug said:

RoadDawg55 said:

dnc said:

Kasen was never that great. He's been simultaneously overrated and underutilized his whole career. He was a doog wet dream after great games as a frosh against WSU and Baylor. Like Keef Prce, he was never as good as he looked in the Alamo Bowel.

My expectations for this season couldn't be any lower. He should have redshirted this year but Jaylen Johnson got kicked off the team and screwed that up. He'll have some nice games blocking for bubble screens but be pretty invisible otherwise. He'll have a solid Arena Football career once he fully heals.

He will play in the NFL if he can get healthy. By February and the combine, he should be fine. I think a team takes a chance on him in the later rounds. You're underselling him. He had a good freshman year. Then he caught a ton of balls as a sophomore. Last year he was playing well, but was underused. The offense wasn't built for a go to receiver either. It was pretty spread out last year instead of throwing it almost exclusively to ASJ and Kasen. This year, he's not healthy, we are a run heavy team, and Miles is a below average passing QB who lacks the arm strength to throw it outside. Miles has mostly thrown to the slot and TE because that's where he can get the ball to. I bet KW has some nice games as the season goes on though, and Petersen has commented about wanting to get him the ball more.

The myth is/was he couldn't go deep, but he can. He did as a freshman and he did some last year. The play he got hurt on was after he completely burned the DB. The reason he didn't as a sophomore was because the line couldn't hold a block for more than two seconds. He was overrated by Scout coming out of high school, but he's always been really good. Hopefully, he gets it back this season because we will need him at some point.

how could you feature anybody in the passing attack not named John Ross on this team?

Williams is a possession receiver in the mold of a Michael Irvin, except he's not as bad ass as the Playmaker was. That kind of Harold Carmichael type - it's all between the ears and in your ball sack, and some guys have it and some don't. Williams hasn't grown up in a program that demands of its receivers that they be that tough and disciplined and fearless and over-the-top confident. Irvin had no choice but to be those things and to use his body and run great routes and make phenomenal catches in traffic because he played on teams that featured at various times Eddie Brown, Brett Perriman and Brian Blades.

Williams physically reminds me a lot of Irvin, with better hops, but that's where the comparison ends.

I think Irvin had better hands, better body control, was better in traffic, and had balls you could haul around in a wheelbarrow. Which is pretty much what you meant, but I just wanted to talk about huge balls. Sort of unfair to compare a college kid to a NFL Hall of Famer, but I think a lot of people hoped Kasen would be in his mold - slower type guy but who would develop into a great body control/route runner type guy who would just outmuscle/outnut his opponents. Never happened. Sark ruined him, as I said above.

re big black balls; brb ....

i'm back.

you put it better than I did, which is weird because I'm the resident Hurricane show off.

key distinction for me is vastly different backgrounds and resulting confidence. Irvin grew up w/ 16 siblings, Congo poor living in a particularly shitty part of Ft. Lauderdale. There is no neighborhood in all the PNW to compare to a shit zone in Dade or Broward - i know this. you deal with all that shit, and your balls will be huge too. nothing to lose. Williams grew up on the Plateau screwing the daughters of east side software executives. And their college experiences could not have been more different.

I say this because Williams is one athletically gifted mother fucker, so the key distinction has got to be different brains. Sark either made him a pussy or, more likely, didn't force him to not be.

H_D

Assuming he does get back to 100%, I still don't see him putting up monster #s this year. Based on what I've seen so far from CM (albeit only 2 games, so yeah I know....LIPO) it just doesn't look like KW is going to get a ton of balls thrown to him as an outside receiver. KW isn't a burner so he isn't going to beat many corners on a go route and become wide open down the field. With an accurate thrower, more options open up for him like back shoulder throws, timing passes, etc, I just don't know if CM is the QB that can get the ball to KW on those type of plays enough to fully utilize and make other teams roll coverage to KW.

That being said, KW is a good blocker, so he can be the front-line blocker on all those bubble screens to Ross.

MikeDamone

creepycoug said:

RoadDawg55 said:

dnc said:

Kasen was never that great. He's been simultaneously overrated and underutilized his whole career. He was a doog wet dream after great games as a frosh against WSU and Baylor. Like Keef Prce, he was never as good as he looked in the Alamo Bowel.

My expectations for this season couldn't be any lower. He should have redshirted this year but Jaylen Johnson got kicked off the team and screwed that up. He'll have some nice games blocking for bubble screens but be pretty invisible otherwise. He'll have a solid Arena Football career once he fully heals.

He will play in the NFL if he can get healthy. By February and the combine, he should be fine. I think a team takes a chance on him in the later rounds. You're underselling him. He had a good freshman year. Then he caught a ton of balls as a sophomore. Last year he was playing well, but was underused. The offense wasn't built for a go to receiver either. It was pretty spread out last year instead of throwing it almost exclusively to ASJ and Kasen. This year, he's not healthy, we are a run heavy team, and Miles is a below average passing QB who lacks the arm strength to throw it outside. Miles has mostly thrown to the slot and TE because that's where he can get the ball to. I bet KW has some nice games as the season goes on though, and Petersen has commented about wanting to get him the ball more.

The myth is/was he couldn't go deep, but he can. He did as a freshman and he did some last year. The play he got hurt on was after he completely burned the DB. The reason he didn't as a sophomore was because the line couldn't hold a block for more than two seconds. He was overrated by Scout coming out of high school, but he's always been really good. Hopefully, he gets it back this season because we will need him at some point.

how could you feature anybody in the passing attack not named John Ross on this team?

Williams is a possession receiver in the mold of a Michael Irvin, except he's not as bad ass as the Playmaker was. That kind of Harold Carmichael type - it's all between the ears and in your ball sack, and some guys have it and some don't. Williams hasn't grown up in a program that demands of its receivers that they be that tough and disciplined and fearless and over-the-top confident. Irvin had no choice but to be those things and to use his body and run great routes and make phenomenal catches in traffic because he played on teams that featured at various times Eddie Brown, Brett Perriman and Brian Blades.

Williams physically reminds me a lot of Irvin, with better hops, but that's where the comparison ends.

Maybe he could be a Steve Largent lunch pail kind of guy? Or can he only be a black receiver type?

priapism

Kasen's strides are huge - he can't change direction fast, which is why he'll never play in the NFL...look at Ross's footwork in comparison. He's got great hands and should always be put in to replace Mickens near the red zone while he's still a Husky. I hate Mickens in the endzone or on third downs, as his hands suddenly and mysteriously shrink in those catching scenarios.

Kasen can/will still catch a TD in every game.

creepycoug

MikeDamone said:

creepycoug said:

RoadDawg55 said:

dnc said:

Kasen was never that great. He's been simultaneously overrated and underutilized his whole career. He was a doog wet dream after great games as a frosh against WSU and Baylor. Like Keef Prce, he was never as good as he looked in the Alamo Bowel.

My expectations for this season couldn't be any lower. He should have redshirted this year but Jaylen Johnson got kicked off the team and screwed that up. He'll have some nice games blocking for bubble screens but be pretty invisible otherwise. He'll have a solid Arena Football career once he fully heals.

He will play in the NFL if he can get healthy. By February and the combine, he should be fine. I think a team takes a chance on him in the later rounds. You're underselling him. He had a good freshman year. Then he caught a ton of balls as a sophomore. Last year he was playing well, but was underused. The offense wasn't built for a go to receiver either. It was pretty spread out last year instead of throwing it almost exclusively to ASJ and Kasen. This year, he's not healthy, we are a run heavy team, and Miles is a below average passing QB who lacks the arm strength to throw it outside. Miles has mostly thrown to the slot and TE because that's where he can get the ball to. I bet KW has some nice games as the season goes on though, and Petersen has commented about wanting to get him the ball more.

The myth is/was he couldn't go deep, but he can. He did as a freshman and he did some last year. The play he got hurt on was after he completely burned the DB. The reason he didn't as a sophomore was because the line couldn't hold a block for more than two seconds. He was overrated by Scout coming out of high school, but he's always been really good. Hopefully, he gets it back this season because we will need him at some point.

how could you feature anybody in the passing attack not named John Ross on this team?

Williams is a possession receiver in the mold of a Michael Irvin, except he's not as bad ass as the Playmaker was. That kind of Harold Carmichael type - it's all between the ears and in your ball sack, and some guys have it and some don't. Williams hasn't grown up in a program that demands of its receivers that they be that tough and disciplined and fearless and over-the-top confident. Irvin had no choice but to be those things and to use his body and run great routes and make phenomenal catches in traffic because he played on teams that featured at various times Eddie Brown, Brett Perriman and Brian Blades.

Williams physically reminds me a lot of Irvin, with better hops, but that's where the comparison ends.

Maybe he could be a Steve Largent lunch pail kind of guy? Or can he only be a black receiver type?

nope. you answered your own question. he's too tall and too black to be a short white receiver. he's an underachiever, where largent was of course the over-achieving white guy. two very different molds.

Swaye

Awesomed for "He's too tall and black to be a short white receiver." Gold Jerry.