Early Signing Period: 4-Star RB Kyren Williams Signs With the Irish

Kyren Williams, a 5-foot-10, 200-pound running back from St. Louis, Mo., made his commitment official this morning as he signed his national letter of intent with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Williams is the only running back that the Irish will take in the 2019 class; the St. John Vianney product will enroll early and join a stable that includes Tony Jones Jr., Jafar Armstrong, Avery Davis, Jahmir Smith and C’Borious Flemister. Jones has two years of eligibility remaining, Armstrong and Davis have three years and Smith and Flemister have four years.

Williams is a four-star prospect, according to 247 Sports, and the site’s composite has him as the 380th best player in the nation, up 452 spots since he joined the first appeared on the radar in August 2017.

The two-time state champion reported an offer from Notre Dame on Jan. 23, and committed on Jun. 21. At the time, Williams was the 11th straight player holding a scholarship offer from the Michigan Wolverines to pick Notre Dame instead. (The Wolverines and Irish “split” the 2019 class, with each signing 10 student-athletes that their opponent extended a scholarship offer to.)

Williams held 19 scholarship offers, including from the Ohio State Buckeyes, Stanford Cardinal and Wisconsin Badgers.

“Williams can slice through traffic out of the backfield, do damage out of the slot and give the Irish a true Swiss Army knife,” wrote Irish Illustrated’s Kevin Sinclair. “How quickly he’ll pick up the playbook and adapt to college-level blitz pickup — these aspects will be interesting to monitor through the spring.”

Additional reading: Carter Karels’ piece on Williams, his friendship with future Irish teammate Houston Griffith and insight from Steve Wiltfong, 247Sports’ director of recruiting.