There’s a clear reason why Texas A&M linebacker Scooby Williams earned the Defensive Newcomer of the Year honor at the team’s awards ceremony last December.
After transferring from Florida, Williams quickly made an impact both on the field and among fans in College Station — thanks to his impressive play and the added charm of sharing a nickname with a beloved cartoon character.
However, the now senior linebacker might have a new reason to be well-respected amongst the A&M fans, his toughness.
While speaking at the Austin Coach’s Night hosted by the Capital City A\&M Club, Aggies head coach Mike Elko shared that Williams played the entire 2024 season with a torn meniscus, an injury he sustained on the very first drive of the opening game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
“One of the things that we didn’t tell anybody about Scooby, because you can’t tell this story is that on the first drive of the Notre Dame game, he tore his meniscus,” Elko told the media. “Him and Taurean York make a really strong pair.”
This remarkable revelation only adds to the impressiveness of Williams’ debut season in maroon and white. Despite the injury, he managed to rack up 43 total tackles — 7.5 of them for a loss — including two against his former team, the Florida Gators. He also recovered a fumble in the win over Arkansas and secured his first career interception during the Aggies’ victory against Mississippi State last October.
As Coach Elko noted on Wednesday, Williams and junior linebacker Taurean York formed a formidable tandem behind the Aggie defensive front, combining for 125 total tackles during the 2024 campaign.
In contrast, during his three seasons at Florida before transferring to College Station, Williams tallied 70 total tackles — with half of that production coming in a single season.
It will be more than interesting to see what Williams’ production looks like in 2025 with a healthy meniscus, because if he can put up the numbers he did last season with one good meniscus, who knows how dominant he would be with two.
Williams and the Aggies open up their 2025 season with a home defense of Kyle Field against the UTSA Roadrunners on Saturday, August 30.
Leave a Reply