Cincinnati Bengals draft A&M running back Trayveon Williams in sixth round
Trayveon Williams followed up his record-setting 2018 Texas A&M football season by being selected in the NFL draft by the Cincinatti Bengals on Saturday.
He was selected with the 182nd pick in the sixth round.
Williams is the first Aggie running back to be selected since Christine Michael was chosen in the second round of the 2013 draft by the Seattle Seahawks.
Williams entered the draft following a spectacular junior season in which earned All-SEC and All-American recognition en route to setting a single-season Texas A&M rushing record of 1,760 yards. He also scored 18 touchdowns, including one 93-yard run in A&M’s 52-13 Gator Bowl victory over North Carolina State.
He actually rushed for 236 yards and three touchdowns in that game, which finished off a brilliant three-year career. Williams rushed for 3,615 career yards, which is the third-highest total in A&M history behind Darren Lewis’ 5,012-yard total and Curtis Dickey’s 3,703-yard total.
Williams arrived at A&M in 2016 as a four-star prospect out of Houston C.E. King High School. He made a tremendous impact almost immediately.
He rushed for 94 yards in a 31-24 overtime victory over UCLA in his freshman debut in 2016. He went on to rush for 1,057 yards and eight touchdowns.
The next season Williams erupted for 203 yards and two touchdowns — one coming on a 61-yard burst — in a season-opening 45-44 loss to UCLA. He suffered a sprained ankle the following week and limped to 798 yards and eight TDs in ’17.
Though extremely productive in his first two seasons, Williams emerged as a dominant force in 2018 after Jimbo Fisher took over as A&M’s head coach.
Aided by a fullback and a tight end and featured in the running game for the first time, Williams began the 2018 season by rushing for 240 yards and three touchdowns in a season-opening 59-7 victory over Northwestern State.
He went on to reach 100 yards rushing in nine games and exceeded 200 yards in three games. His 1,760-yard rushing total was the third highest in the country.
He proved to be among the most explosive running backs in the country. He posted 17 runs that covered 20 yards or more. Only Darrell Henderson (27) of Memphis and Travis Etienne (23) of national champion Clemson had more.