DURHAM -- Duke junior Johnny Williams, who switched from receiver to cornerback in December, has impressed Duke coach David Cutcliffe in practices so far.
But if Williams continues to catch on to his new defensive role quickly, don't be surprised to see him making some catches on offense, as well.
"He's going to play a lot of football at a lot of places," Cutcliffe said earlier this week. "At this stage ... if he gets proficient on what he's doing over there defensively, there's the chance that Johnny could show back up in circumstances at receiver some. I like him on the field."
Williams, who also has experience returning kicks and punts, said he will play whenever and wherever necessary to help the Blue Devils win - but he does like the idea of playing on both sides of the ball.
The hardest part of making the move to defense, said the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder, has been conditioning, "because you don't really have subs at defensive back. At receiver, if you're tired, you can tap out; at DB, you can't do that."
That lack of experience in the secondary is one of the reasons Williams - who caught 61 passes for 712 yards and started 16 games his first two seasons at Duke - agreed to make the switch. At receiver, he would have been competing for playing time with a deep group that includes Donovan Varner, Conner Vernon and Austin Kelly. At corner, meanwhile, Williams has a good chance to start from the outset, even though he hasn't played there since high school.
Cutcliffe said he has had a small number of athletes with the ability to play on both sides of the ball for him in the past, including Syniker Taylor at Mississippi and Carl Pickens at Tennessee. The coach says he sees that same ability in Williams, "but what he's got to do is he's got to master the corner. Because he knows what he's got to do at receiver. ... And I told him, he's a totally different package right now; his training habits have improved. Not to try to say too much, too soon - let's see how it pays off. Johnny's one of those guys that gets out of the gate, and doesn't finish the race. His big challenge is going to be to finish the race, get it done."
No matter which position, or how many, he plays.
