Another piece of Indiana’s historic 2025 national championship roster has found an NFL home.
Former Hoosiers wide receiver E.J. Williams signed Thursday with the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad, giving the cream and crimson another foothold in the league less than eight months after the program’s first football title.
Williams, the 6-foot-3, 203-pounder from Phenix City, Alabama, spent three seasons in Bloomington after transferring from Clemson.
He finished his college career as a champion. In 2025 he posted career highs of 36 receptions, 438 yards and six touchdowns for Curt Cignetti’s 16-0 Hoosiers, including a 109-yard, two-score outburst against UCLA and a touchdown grab from Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza in the Peach Bowl.
That Indiana team completed the first 16-win season in the modern era and beat Miami 27-21 in the CFP championship game.
The signing is a reminder of how far the program has come. Williams arrived when Indiana was still climbing out of decades of losing. He stayed through a coaching change, a redshirt year, and the explosion under Cignetti.
By the time confetti fell in South Florida, the veteran receiver was part of a roster that rewrote the program’s identity.
After going undrafted in 2026, Williams signed with the Las Vegas Raiders — reuniting with Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick. He caught three passes for 52 yards in the preseason before being released at final cuts.
Carolina filled a practice-squad vacancy created when linebacker Tyrel Dodson was promoted to the 53-man roster. The Panthers now have a proven winner who knows how to produce in a high-powered offense.
For Hoosier fans, the move is another data point in the Cignetti pipeline. Indiana’s 2025 title team already sent Mendoza to Las Vegas and is beginning to populate NFL rosters the way traditional powers have for generations.
Williams is not a finished product — he battled injuries earlier in his career at Clemson and Indiana — but he has size, a 4.52 forty, and a 6-foot-8 wingspan that scouts noticed at his pro day.
Practice-squad life is the next grind: scout-team work, special teams, and waiting for an elevation or injury ahead. Williams has already shown he can wait and then produce.
He used extra eligibility, returned after considering the portal, and delivered his best football when Indiana needed it most.
Cream and crimson will be watching Charlotte this fall. A national champion from Bloomington now wears Panthers silver.
For a program that spent so long waiting for relevance, every roster addition like this one feels like another small victory.
