Jonah Williams can play college football just about anywhere he wants to.
Williams, a five-star linebacker/safety from Galveston, Texas, is one of the top defenders in the 2025 recruiting class. He already boasts over 30 offers, including verbals from several blue blood programs like Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and USC, among others.
Again, Williams can play just about anywhere in college, but a recent report from On3 is suggesting that head coach Brent Venables and his Sooners could be in a good spot for the elite 6-foot-3, 203-pound linebacker/safety hybrid.
For one, Oklahoma is leaning into Williams’ ability as an athlete, and that includes his skills on the baseball diamond.
“First of all, big-time baseball background and Oklahoma has done a good job with those kind of athletes,” On3 Oklahoma recruiting insider Josh McCuistion recently said, explaining why he thinks Williams will end up with the Sooners.
To McCuistion’s point, Kyler Murray won a Heisman at Oklahoma while also playing left field for the Sooners’ baseball team. This was before Venables was head coach in Norman, but that type of flexibility has remained for the Sooners.
Speaking of flexibility, Williams is a good enough athlete that he can play linebacker in some schemes and safety in others — depending on what a coach is looking for out of him.
Per McCuistion, Oklahoma likes Williams as a safety, and that’s a pitch that seems to be working for the five-star.
“I think you’re seeing Oklahoma work well there…I think Jonah has bought into that. Also, a lot of schools early on were talking to Jonah about linebacker, which is obviously where On3 has him ranked as well. Oklahoma’s been very adamant — they want him as a safety, that’s where they see him starting out,” McCuistion said.
“He’s a big kid, linebacker is a possibility in any scheme, but I think they’re sincere in letting him have that opportunity, which is what I think he wants to start with.”
Whether at safety or linebacker, Williams is extremely talented. According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, he’s a top-15 recruit in the country. More specifically, he’s ranked as the No. 2 linebacker recruit in the 2025 class.