Bennett Williams Out for Remainder of 2021 Season

Just five games into the 2021 season, the Ducks have lost another massive piece of their team. Junior safety Bennett Williams will not play again this season, as confirmed by Head Coach Mario Cristobal Thursday. 

"Bennett will be done for the year as well," Cristobal said.

Following the loss to Stanford, Cristobal told reporters Williams "hurt himself pretty good," in a freak accident during a non-contact drill in the team's Friday practice leading up to the Stanford game. 

Williams had the second-most interceptions on the team with three, trailing only Verone McKinley III, who had still leads with four. Williams had made his mark early in the season by being a reliable, physical tackler who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Through four games in 2021, he totaled 20 tackles, one tackle for loss and three interceptions. 

His stock really started to elevate once he started forcing turnovers, grabbing an interception against Stony Brook, and two against Arizona, the second of which he returned for a touchdown to help the Ducks put the Wildcats away in week 4.

The Ducks tabbed Jamal Hill the starter at the STAR position in Williams' absence against Stanford, and Hill has proven he's more than capable of contributing at a high clip. 

In 2020, the sophomore from Georgia played in six of the team's seven games and had 20 total tackles to go along with defending six passes and snagging two interceptions. Both of his interceptions came on the big stage against USC in the Pac-12 championship game, with his second being a masterful bobbling, toe-tap grab to put the nail in the Trojans' coffin.

Oregon also has sophomore Steve Stephens IV roaming the defensive backfield, who saw extended snaps early in the season when Hill missed time due to a suspension. Freshman Daymon David is another option for Tim DeRuyter, coming to Eugene with high praise as a hard hitter from the Baltimore area. 

Fans should keep an eye on Jeffrey Bassa here, as the freshman safety moved to linebacker to help shore up the depth following injuries to Justin Flowe and Dru Mathis. He looks like he'll be staying at linebacker, at least for now, but perhaps a move back to safety sounds more realistic now after Williams' injury. 

The Ducks continue a bizarre season riddled with injuries, having also lost running back CJ Verdell to injury in the week 5 bout with Stanford.