Rashid Williams is regarded as a veteran in the Washington wide receiver room. But after three seasons on the roster, he’s been targeted just 22 times on Saturdays. On the practice field, Williams is as reliable as they come. He’s sure-handed, smooth in his route running, and guides the receiver room through example. The redshirt sophomore takes first team reps, leads the receiver room in drills, and helps coach the younger players with his advanced knowledge of the offense.
Leadership Forged for Rashid Williams
Battle With Injuries
But injuries in 2025 kept him from having the breakout season that was expected. After redshirting the 2023 season, Williams played in all 13 games as a reserve in 2024. He was primed to be wide-receiver-two opposite Denzel Boston a year ago. But an early-season injury against UC Davis changed that trajectory.
“It was difficult,” Williams said this spring, recalling his collarbone injury last September. “[I] just stayed in the training room, talked to family. My girlfriend was a big help.” Williams was sidelined for six games in the middle of the 2025 season as he recovered from his collarbone. By early November, he was on track to be available for the game at Wisconsin. But injury struck again. During practice leading up to the team’s November 8th trip to Madison, Williams suffered a hand injury in practice. He described it as the lowest point of his season.
“I would say the lowest point was getting injured again after my collarbone,” Williams said this spring. “It was pretty hard for me just trying to work back and get my collarbone strong and stuff, and then at practice, something bad happened.” Williams said that he got his left hand stuck in a teammate’s face mask during practice while making a catch.
Kevin Cummings’ Perspective
“Yeah, it was frustrating for him,” receivers coach Kevin Cummings said of Williams. “What makes Rashid so great is how much of a competitor he is. And so for him not to be able to be on that field, I know ate at him. So he did a great job with his mental toughness.” Cummings said that the program’s sports psychology team has done a great job of making sure that players with injuries stay mentally strong. They also help players keep the right perspective during their tough situations.
“Rashid was going into [last] season as a starter, and then it doesn’t go the way that he wants it to go,” Cummings continued. “And so he did a great job mentally of understanding that, you know, everything happens for a reason, come back stronger. And if you see him out there on the field, he’s a lot stronger, bigger, and faster.”
In total, Williams was on the field for just 46 offensive plays in 2025. Only being able to watch from the sidelines during a season that began with high expectations for him, Williams described, was very difficult. But support from the people around him and the resources in the facility kept him mentally focused and ready to return this offseason.
“The wide receiver room, they always kept my head up and tried to get me to stay positive,” Williams said. “My family also, I also would be on FaceTime with my parents, my brother, and sister, and stuff like that. My friends, too.” The rising fourth-year junior said that he does now have a medical redshirt should he need to use it going forward.
Williams’ Leadership at Practice
Though his playing time has been limited in-season, Williams’ leadership on the practice field continues to stand out. Last spring, when Boston was unavailable at spring practice, Williams stepped into that offseason leadership role for the first time. Now, throughout the first two weeks of spring practice, Williams is taking that a step further.
“It’s time,” Williams began. “I’ve been here for a while, and with the younger guys, you know, it’s easy to just coach them up if they mess up or anything like that.” There was a play during the second week of practice where he pulled freshman receiver Asa Thompson aside to explain the fundamentals of a drill.
“So on that specific play, it was like a scout rout,e and I’m supposed to go at an angle like this.” Williams described the route with his hands. “He was kind of vertical. So I just told him that you gotta go at like an angle.” Williams’ attention to the small details of practice reps is what stands out when watching him play.
Cummings’ Point of Emphasis
Receivers coach Cummings made this kind of leadership a point of emphasis for Williams, as well as some of the other young but experienced players in the room. “Early on [this spring] I talked to Rashid, I talked to Chris Lawson, I talked to Dez Roebuck,” Cummings said. “I was like, ‘You guys have to be the guys for me that are giving these [young] guys the pointers on the side.’ So to hear that Rashid is doing that is great.”
It’s not just his reliable hands, smooth route running, and first-team reps with the offense that combine to make Williams a high-ceiling player. It’s also in his ability to lead the younger players through experience. He continues to guide them through understanding the offense and describes in detail how practice reps should be run.
Williams-to-Williams Connection
And even though his game reps have been limited, the chemistry between Williams and quarterback Demond Williams is strong. Williams said his quarterback has continued to evolve as a leader of the team, now going into his true junior season.
“Just knowing we got a lot of chemistry and stuff now more than last year,” Williams said, describing the relationship between him and his quarterback. “Just hanging outside the building and stuff like that. And you know, he throws to us, so we got to make him look good.”
Main Image: Nick Lemkau
