IMPACT ANALYSIS: What Williams to Kentucky means

Immediate help, potentially, from a JUCO defensive back. An early enrollee. Versatility.

All some of the stories and some of the angles we're tackling our Impact Analysis segment, which appears after every Kentucky commitment. In this case it follows Domonique Williams' commitment.

Kentucky didn't recruit Domonique Williams to come in and gradually make an impact over time. He was recruited to play right away.

Fortunately, he has a redshirt year at his disposal, and that's even more fortunate because of the NCAA's rule tweaking, which will allow for some playing time while keeping the redshirt.

He was recruited to play because Kentucky's starting defensive backs are getting up there in terms of their eligibility, but also because Kentucky could, conceivably, lose one or more defensive backs early to the NFL Draft.

Williams has gained 16-17 pounds over the past two years and has gone from a smaller, work-in-progress DB with potential to a physically stout, more mature secondary prospect who can tackle, cover and blitz.

When CatsIllustrated.com has spoken with Williams and his trainer Chris Treece (and we've spoken with them several times now), versatility is the key word that has come up more than any other.

Kentucky loves Williams' ability to rotate back and forth between the corner spot and the nickelback position, and that versatility speaks to a well-rounded game. He has the athleticism, the footwork, the ability to judge the ball and the mentality to play corner, but he's also not afraid to help stuff the run and his physicality is as impressive as his athleticism.

Dean Hood has landed his first two commitments as a Kentucky assistant coach this month alone.

The first was South Carolina kicker/punter Chance Poore and Williams is now the second.

Of course, Williams has a prior relationship with Hood, because Kentucky's LB/ST coach was Eastern Kentucky's head coach when Williams signed with the Colonels as a Class of 2016 recruit.

Kentucky landed several talented defensive backs in the last class but it was a group that was heavy on corners. Michael Nesbitt (yet to arrive at Kentucky, situation TBD), Cedrick Dort (early enrollee) and Yusuf Corker are all pure corners and Lonnie Johnson is versatile and can play corner.

Williams can play corner as well but he's also a player who can probably play just about any position in the secondary, so he not only addresses needs by the potential to play early, but by his ability to play a spot or two that UK didn't address quite as much in the last class.

How will Williams' commitment impact Kentucky's class ranking?

To be determined.

Williams does not yet have a ranking on the Rivals.com network, similar to Poore, but that will change in time. When he does receive a ranking it will boost UK's overall class score, though the actual ranking will determine how much it changes by.