Trey Williams Named Rivals High Offensive Player of the Year Over Johnathan Gray
by Wescott Eberts (GoBR) on Dec 26, 2011 1:38 PM CST
in Texas Longhorns Recruiting
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In between racking up insane yardage and touchdown totals on the gridiron, Texas commit Johnathan Gray has spent so much time collecting awards over the last two years that it was almost shocking to see Rivals High give the site's Offensive Player of the Year award to someone else, in this case Texas A&M commit Trey Williams, the star back for Spring Dekaney's state championship team.
A brief list of awards won by Gray this season include the Tom Landy Award, Gatorade National Player of the Year, Mr. Football USA, and the AP Texas Player of the Year. And that list may not even be exhaustive. Suffice it to say that Rivals High is out on a limb here.
It's not clear from the article why Rivals High opted to choose Williams above Gray. It's possible that the higher level of competition -- 5A for Williams versus 4A for Gray -- and the impact that Williams has had on his school, now only four years into its existence, made a difference.
Otherwise, the two posted similar numbers -- Williams ran for 3,884 yards to 3,905 yards for Gray, while scoring 48 rushing touchdowns to 65 for Gray. Add in the five receiving touchdowns for Gray and he came up only one score short of tying the national single-season record for all-purpose touchdowns. Gray also averaged two yards per carry more than Williams and ran for more yards in the state championship game than Williams.
For what it's worth, long-time Arlington Sam Houston coach Ken Ozee, who has watched many of the great backs in the state, including Eric Dickerson, LaDanian Tomlinson, Cedric Benson, and Adrian Peterson, and said recently that Gray is the best that he has ever seen.
It's a discussion that has been fairly prevalent as Gray broke the national scoring record as he helped Aledo to a third straight state title. So the numbers support Gray and the opinions of those calling him the best ever and all the other awards also support Gray. The only real argument for Williams seems to be the level of competition, but all Gray can really do about that is make plays and win the state championship, right? Right.
At the least, it seems debatable that Williams is more deserving than Gray of the award from Rivals High. At the least. And as a result, the decision from Rivals High makes no sense without actually revealing some of the debate that should have gone on behind the scenes about the decision.
As it is, the fact that Williams was hard to tackle even as a little kid doesn't make him the Offensive Player of the Year over a player who capped a record-setting career with another state championship and a record-setting season. Again, what more could Gray have done?
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All about selling subscriptions
Choosing Williams gets Rivals a lot more attention than choosing Gray. These sites are way more interested in attention and selling subscriptions than they are in being accurate.
by longhorn charlie on Dec 26, 2011 1:47 PM CST reply actions
Aggie Has Nice Stable of Backs
Getting Brandon Williams and Trey Williams really gives the Aggie SEC caliber backs. Still think Gray is so special that the Horns may have the best backs in the country next year. He is like Malcolm Brown with an extra gear. When he makes that cutback – will take it to the house. Almost 70 TDs while sitting out the second half of many games is just plain sick.
Change isn't good or bad it just "is". Don Draper of Madmen
I agree
but that is really the way it should be. Texas and Texas A&M should have incredible backfields every year. With all the elite backs coming out of this state in the past decade, the most surprising thing about this situation is the fact that it is surprising at all. Just keep them in state!?!
Question though, which backfield would you rather have?
C-Mike and Ben Molena, with Trey Williams and Brandon Williams coming in…… or Brown, Bergeron, and Monroe, with Gray coming in……
Personally, I would rather have ours, but I think its debateable.
"A lot of people look for the easy way to do anything, in swimming there is no easy way." - Eddie Reese
It was a reply
to realmccoy. I agree that the Aggies will have a nice stable of backs.
As for the award, meh, Gray won a ton of awards. I guess it would be nice to win them all, but whatever. How many times has the Heisman gone to a QB who didn’t win the O’Brien? People give awards for different reasons. Probably some merit to the idea that Gray was winning them all, and they wanted the “Un-obvious” choice…. But TW is legit. If there were no J Gray, Trey would be a kid everybody in the country would know.
"A lot of people look for the easy way to do anything, in swimming there is no easy way." - Eddie Reese
Sure is Nice
To be able to debate. Just think where we are now vs. a couple of years ago. I would prefer Texas’ backfield just because I think that Gray is the real deal. Trey is to, but seems like Gray gets through the hole quicker.
Change isn't good or bad it just "is". Don Draper of Madmen
Rivals didn;t have much credibility to begin with and now they have lost it all!
Proud of your offense? Manny badger don't give a shit!
I'll take ours without a doubt.
Trey is nice but undersized, and Brandon Williams is TERRIBLY overrated, I’m sorry.
Just flat rediculous?????
I believe Jonathan Gray got to many awards, so rivials felt bad for Trey Williams, Makes you wonder how many aggies were voting for rivals. What makes no sence is rivals has Jonathan Gray # 6 in the top 100 in the country and has Trey Williams # 13. Gray has better yards, double the touchdowns than Williams so this pick makes absolutly no sence. Gray did everything better than Williams, so come aggie rivals open your eyes, everyone else has
Trey Williams is very good
I was not dogging Trey Williams and I agree he is #2 in the nation to Jonathan Gray, Gray and Williams are both high school all-americans and will be college all-americans, Gray did more in in the state of Texas and nationally his high school career than Williams did. So for rivals to pick Williams over Gray just is confusing!!
Oh,,you made me laugh.
If a man is alone in the woods and he speaks, if no one hears him,,is he still wrong?
its simply...
…the UA selections vs. the US Army Bowl selections…Rivals has always favored players who play the US Army game rather than the newer ESPN UA game and since Trey is playing the former and Gray is playing the latter, its why they choose Trey.
They have done this before and they will do it again. The ranking themselves always reflect this in the Rivals 250 as opposed to the ESPN 150.
by vanterminatorhorn on Dec 26, 2011 2:45 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Let's look at this again in 2015.
Until then, it doesn’t matter. I say, give ‘em all an award. Let’s see who does well when playing on an even field of talent and against some nasty defenses. UT has the best stable w/ size, durability, and ability. Now, let’s get after it!
Exactly
Put on the burnt orange and white. Then we will worry about production or awards.
Run like you stole somethin'
by PiedAfried on Dec 26, 2011 4:39 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Rivals is an SEC mouthpiece
Aggy just joined the SEC and Williams is an aggy commit – go figure!
Proud of your offense? Manny badger don't give a shit!
Trey who? Aggy who? SE what?
Hook em!
If a man is alone in the woods and he speaks, if no one hears him,,is he still wrong?
Rivals is gonna look like a bunch of idiots after Gray wins the Heisman
Gray for Heisman 2013!!!! lets start printing out the shirts and getting the sites up
In The Morning To You
We've had a few high school award winning busts in the past. So I
don’t care whether he won the award or not…I just want him to play good football for us.
Great players make great coaches, but great coaches make champions." DKR circa 1964
It's Simple
The better runner picked the better program.
Who would Sumlin or Stoops pick? Is there any doubt?
Proud of your offense? Manny badger don't give a shit!
mountain/molehill
I think the question is whether there’s a noticeable gap in performance against criteria between the two guys, and if so, is it outside a margin of error and subjectivity. That would probably be a much easier question to answer if the criteria and reasoning were more transparent. I guess what I’m saying is that both these guys are obviously terrific, so I don’t think it’s absurd that Williams could win the award over Gray, but I do think some measure of clear justification needs to support the announcement.
"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
― Isaac Asimov
by burntorangehorn on Dec 27, 2011 8:23 AM CST reply actions
State and National records
How many does Williams have and how many does Gray have?
There is nothing subjective about this.
Records themselves don't say everything
The RivalsHigh guy cited Gray’s lower division. 4A is still no joke, though. That might’ve been a more significant difference if we were talking about Shead or Whaley down at the 1A or 2A level.
"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
― Isaac Asimov
by burntorangehorn on Dec 27, 2011 11:06 AM CST up reply actions
Looks like Santa should have brought BON
a massive sized jar of Vaseline, because the butt hurt here is palpable.
Honestly, why do you give a damn about this award? It is a made up award from a website that is as valid as the trophy for best biceps on a third string water boy.
Some of y’all are actively searching for something to be upset about.
by Beergut on Dec 27, 2011 11:46 AM CST via mobile reply actions
You are just plain laughable.
You obviously care as you took time to come over here to say that, so well done sir. You are the epitome of hypocrite.
I came over here because someone told me y'all were melting down over a made-up award
and he was right.
Step back from the situation for a second and realize how pathetic you look. You are bitching because a website didn’t award a trophy to a guy who doesn’t even play for you yet, and instead awarded it to a player who is going to another school.
Please explain to me how the f*ck that effects the play of your football team on the field one iota.
you're gonna need the Vaseline
mr. WE’RE GOING TO THE SEC!!!!!
In The Morning To You
by horns1025 on Dec 27, 2011 4:12 PM CST via Android app up reply actions 1 recs
Isn't that why A&M is leaving the big 12 - because they couldn't compete with UT for recruits?
There is a ray of hope for collieville – going to the SEC gives them something to cheer about other than their mediocre team. Ya takes what ya gets!
TCU
anyone want to give me 4-1 odds on $25 Gray is going to go to TCU
There's something spiritual about baseball — like Mother Nature," Garrido said. "You don't mess with it. And I think before a player can really believe in it, he has to experience it."
by dmurphnextrusygreer on Dec 28, 2011 8:44 AM CST reply actions
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