DENVER — Not long after Brian Hess became the strength and conditioning coach at North Carolina, was he introduced to then-sophomore running back Javonte Williams.

Their introduction came in the weight room, where Williams is hard to miss.

“I look down and I see Javonte with five plates (495 pounds) on the bar just hammering it,” Hess said of Williams squatting that day. “He was way over what was on his sheet, and he hit it and it looked good. You knew right then Javonte was incredibly strong. He had great strength and technique, but more importantly, he had the right mindset.

“He’s got that tough mindset where he wants to do physical things, he wants the weight on his shoulders and he plays like that as well.”

Now with the Broncos, that mentality has translated to the next level, where Williams has become one of the NFL’s fiercest runners in only his rookie season.

“He’s just a beast, man,” Broncos guard Dalton Rinser said. “I love blocking for that dude. Those guys aren’t going to stop until you bring them down, and that’s heart. That’s drive. I don’t think anyone knows how special No. 33 is, but he’s a very special football player.”

Williams prides himself on his ability to not be tackled.

According to Pro Football Focus, Williams is tied with Cleveland’s Nick Chubb for most missed tackles forced after a rush with 35, while 331 of his 446 rushing yards have come after contact. He also has 16 “explosive runs” — 10-plus-yard runs — which is ranked eighth in the NFL despite having only 95 carries, which is 25 less than Chubb, who leads the league with 22 explosive runs.

The list of adjectives to describe his running style is long — dominant, potent, energetic, dynamic, powerful and forceful, to list a few. And so are the analogies, as he treats his 5-foot-10, 220-pound body like a bowling ball, hurling himself full speed at defenders until they all fall down.

Watch his 30-yard run in Dallas last Sunday, in which he ran over three Cowboys, and you’ll understand the fascination with the 21-year-old rookie who’s become a human highlight reel, running over grown men.

FREE JAVONTE WILLIAMS pic.twitter.com/thR6xoImM4

— PFF (@PFF) November 7, 2021

“It’s hard to explain,” said Kevin Motsinger, Williams’ high school coach. “I guess the best way to put it is, when he hits you, it’s violent.”

Williams has quickly become a budding star for the Broncos, splitting carries with starting running back and seven-year NFL veteran Melvin Gordon. Drafted in the second round, 35th, Williams will soon be the Broncos’ long-term workhorse — a role he’s familiar with and already starting to embrace nine games into his career.

Last week against the Cowboys, he had a breakout performance, totaling 111 yards on 17 carries averaging 6.5 yards per rush and earning NFL Rookie of the Week. It was only a matter of time for Williams, who has had a jaw-dropping run nearly every week.

He’s gained attention around the league, making several appearances on NFL Network and Good Morning Football’s “Angry Runs” segment, which breaks down the most authoritative runs in the NFL each week. And, of course, he’s impressed his own teammates and coaches, with his own coach comparing him to the likes of Hall of Fame running back Edgerrin James.

“He kind of runs a little bit [and is a] complete player as Edgerrin,” said coach Vic Fangio, who coached James in Indianapolis from 1999-2001. “He’s just a really good player. He’s a rookie by classification, but not by play and demeanor and professionalism. He doesn’t act like a rookie at all. The guy is really good.”

Williams, though, hasn’t always been a dominant running back. In fact, this is only his fifth full year playing the position.

A linebacker at Wallace Rose-Hill High School in Duplin County, North Carolina, Williams mostly played defense to start his career, only getting a few reps at running back. But when those reps came, he didn’t disappoint.

“Coming from middle school to high school, he wasn’t ‘the guy,’” said Adam Scronce, who was Williams’ junior varsity coach at Wallace Rose-Hill. “He was just a hard-nosed player. He wasn’t the strongest, he wasn’t the fastest, but he played with a lot of heart. And you could see flashes. There were a couple of those his freshman year.”

It wasn’t until after his junior season, when Motsinger arrived as coach, that Williams made the full switch to running back. Williams was a great linebacker, but at his size, he was never going to be able to play Division I football unless he solely played running back.

“Just watching his physicality at linebacker, watching his explosiveness — his body control, balance, power, physicality and ball skills were off the charts,” Motsinger said. “I remember I sat him down and told him he wasn’t going to play much defense. He wanted to go both ways, but he was one of those kids who couldn’t go all night like a lot of kids can, the reason being is he didn’t know but one speed. He’d get so tired because he gave 100%.”

Williams went to work that offseason before his senior season, practically living in the weight room. Motsinger said Williams started the season at 187 pounds and finished at 214, squatting over 400 pounds and benching over 300 by the season’s end.

“He did every rep,” Motsinger said. “He never cheated. He didn’t coast through it. He didn’t jog through it. He gave everything he had.”

And that hard work paid off.

His senior year at Wallace Rose-Hill, Williams rushed for 2,271 yards and 27 touchdowns, while also catching 13 passes for 363 yards and five touchdowns. In the state championship game, he rushed for 207 yards and two touchdowns, scoring a 73-yard touchdown on the first play of the game.

He received his only Division I offer, from North Carolina, immediately after the game.

“There were maybe four or five times that year, especially late in the season, he scored on the first play of the game,” Scronce said. “He was the best player on the field every single Friday night.”

That success carried over to North Carolina where he burst onto the scene his sophomore season, rushing for 933 yards and five touchdowns on 166 carries. He was even better as a junior in 2020, rushing for 1,140 yards and 19 touchdowns on 157 carries, splitting time with now-Jets rookie running back Michael Carter.

At North Carolina, Williams was a 600-pound squatter, could bench close to 400 pounds and power cleaned 345 pounds. He had a 36-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-3 broad jump. And recorded a 1.6s 10-yard sprint and a 4.57s 40-yard dash.

“So many factors come together with him,” Hess said. “He’s got great speed, his acceleration is incredible. You look at his broad jump, you look at his vertical, his short shuttle, and then you put on top of that how strong he is and how well he carries his weight — it’s so many things coming together that equal such an incredible athlete.”

Still, some wondered if Williams’ running style would translate to the NFL.

“You watch him in college and people were almost afraid of him. He was just running through people,” Hess said. “And you just weren’t sure if you’d see that at the next level because it’s a different animal, but we keep seeing these runs keep happening and he’s just that incredible of an athlete that he’s making it look easy at the next level.”

Halfway through his rookie season, Williams has proven he belongs.

He made that abundantly clear in Week 4, in which he carried Ravens defensive back Marlon Humphrey nearly 20 yards downfield. And it’s those types of plays that the Broncos hoped for when they moved up in the draft to get Williams.

Javonte Williams taking the Ravens defense for a piggy back ride 🏈 (via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/iNdZbxFADV

— #RingerNFL (@ringernfl) October 3, 2021

“That’s what you saw on college tape,” Fngio said. “That he’s doing it so well and so early — maybe, but we expected that. I can remember many of us commenting in the OTAs part of the offseason and training camp when things aren’t live. He wasn’t giving you the ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ plays then because his ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ plays, as you’ve seen, come on contact and running through tackles.”

In many ways, Williams has become must-watch TV each Sunday, with fans, media, coaches and players — on both sides — holding their breath each time he’s handed the ball.

“He’s already got a highlight film of explosive runs that are amazing that some guys can go a whole career and not get one or two of them,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. “He’s had a really good start to his season and his career. Just like some of the other rookies that we brought in this year, he has a very bright future. We’re pleased with what he’s doing. I just feel like as we get through the back half of the season he’ll even get better.”

Better?

That’s a scary thought for the Broncos’ final eight opponents, starting with the Eagles on Sunday. But ask those who know Williams best and they’ll say the same thing.

His success isn’t a surprise, it’s a result of the time and effort he’s put in throughout his career. And his football journey, while well-documented up to this point, is only getting started.

“In life, at the end of the day, you’re investing in yourself. And Javonte has invested in himself every single day,” Motsinger said. “He’s just a special young man to be around. He always did things the right way. He is a better person than he is a football player. He deserves everything he gets. He’s earned everything.”