Before the season, Virginia Tech tailback Ryan Williams was a projected first-round NFL draft pick, but that all changed when he went down with a slightly torn left hamstring Sept. 18 against East Carolina.

The third-year sophomore, who is eligible this year for early entry into the draft, missed four games and saw only limited playing time in his first two games back. But he has started showing signs of the gamebreaking ability that led to an ACC freshman record 1,655 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns last season.

Still, even as he rounds back into full form, Williams, who has rushed for 404 yards and seven touchdowns on only 88 carries, isn’t sure what he’s going to do about his NFL future.

He said if he received assurance of a first-round selection, he’d likely declare for the draft, but he isn’t sure where he’d be picked at this point.

“It’ll make me feel a lot better about my decision if I’m a first rounder,“ said Williams, who rushed for a season-high 142 yards and two touchdowns against Miami on Saturday. “That’s guaranteed money and stuff like that. That’s a dream come true since I was seven years old. I probably would take the opportunity if somebody was like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to take you in the first round,‘ but I’m not going to sit here and lie to myself and say I’m a first rounder after the season I’ve had. We’ll just see how everything falls out.“

Williams is no longer included on ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper’s first-round board, but Kiper does rank him No. 3 on the list of underclassmen tailbacks, behind Alabama’s Mark Ingram and Oregon’s LaMichael James.

“Before the season, the thoughts (of leaving early for the NFL) were really there, and then I got hurt with a torn hamstring and everything of that sort,“ Williams said. 

“The season I had wasn’t what I wanted, and I know my stock really dropped. As of right now, I really don’t know. All I know is I want to finish the season strong, and I proved to myself and a lot of people that I’m back to being the playmaker that I can be, and I’ve just got to continue throughout the rest of the season, and we’ll see where that goes.“