2022 Countdown to IUFB Kickoff: 5 Days Part I (Dexter Williams II)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The 2022 Hoosier Huddle Countdown now has less than one week remaining. In just five days, the Indiana Hoosiers will take the field to open the 2022 season against Illinois. Today, we profile a pair of number fives: Dexter Williams and Bradley Jennings!

Name: Dexter Williams

Hometown: Macon, Georgia (Mount de Sales Academy)

Position: Quarterback

Year: Redshirt Sophomore

Height/Weight: 6’1”/209 pounds

The state of Georgia has become a popular recruiting area for Tom Allen’s Indiana Hoosiers. That should come as no surprise as the state is loaded with nearly as much talent as any in the country right now. Dexter Williams, a native of Macon, is one of the Peach State products to don the Cream and Crimson and he enters the 2022 season in a battle for third-string on the depth chart at the most important position on the field: quarterback.

Williams played at Mount de Sales Academy and was the two-time Region 7A Offensive Player of the Year for the Cavaliers. Mount de Sales is a Catholic school in the Middle Georgia region and has roughly 500 students. He excelled with 5,088 total yards in his final two seasons along with 61 touchdowns as the Cavaliers won 19 of their final 20 regular-season games under his leadership. Williams ultimately chose Indiana and entered for the 2020 season, redshirting during IU’s stellar campaign that ended with the defeat in the Gator Bowl. Williams suffered a torn ACL during spring practice in 2021 and his entire season was wiped out. He stayed dedicated during his rehabilitation and in the classroom, earning Academic All-Big Ten honors.

After the 2021 season, change was afoot in Bloomington. Michael Penix transferred to Washington, Donoven McCulley moved from quarterback to wide receiver, the Hoosiers brought in Connor Bazelak from Missouri, Jack Tuttle was able to stay fully healthy and prepare for a season for the first time, Nick Sheridan was let go and Walt Bell was hired to be the new offensive coordinator. After the wheel stopped spinning, the outlook for Williams was clear. Bazelak and Jack Tuttle would compete for the starting position with the runner-up taking primary back-up duties. That means third-string would come down to redshirt freshman Dexter Williams and incoming freshman Brendan Sorsby. At just 6’1”, he’s not the ideal height for a major FBS quarterback but Williams has strong skills that jump out to Tom Allen.

“A guy like Dexter definitely has talent,” Allen told the media in May. “He’s a great young man. He has worked extremely hard to come back from his knee injury. It’s just learning the system and being able to get out there and play. He’s very young. He hasn’t played a lot of football for us and hasn’t played any games, he has to focus on mastering the fundamentals, getting comfortable in the pocket and learning the system and get that ball out fast and be able to help us be very effective.”