Cleveland Browns: Greedy Williams getting his chances in camp
Cleveland Browns second-round pick Greedy Williams may be in line to take a starting job, already getting reps with the first team defense in training camp.
Throughout much of the 2019 NFL Draft process, LSU cornerback Greedy Williams was viewed as a lock to be a first-round pick. However, as people started to dissect his film intently — specifically with a focus on his apparent unwillingness to tackle — his stock started to dip. That led to him falling to the middle of the second round, a spot where the Cleveland Browns traded up to nab him.
In Cleveland, 2018 first-round pick Denzel Ward is slated to start at one cornerback spot in the 2019 season. And while Terrance Mitchell is back with the Browns, that second corner position opposite of Ward is more in question. It appears that Williams will get every opportunity to earn that spot, and is already getting plenty of them early on.
On Wednesday at Browns training camp, almost a full week into the proceedings, Williams was working with the first team defense, as reported on Browns.com. Even better, the rookie out of LSU showed some positive things — things that addressed some of the biggest concerns about the athletic defensive back.
This situation unfolded, as told on Browns.com:
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"In a situational drill, the first-team offense broke the huddle facing a third-and-4. Mayfield handed the ball to Nick Chubb, who attempted to run through a hole off the hip of Joel Bitonio. He met contact and stumbled through it before he was stopped by a second defender.It was Williams, who matched Chubb’s pad level and stopped him in his tracks, short of the marker."
Williams showing a willingness to tackle, especially against a physical presence like Chubb, and then succeeding in doing so is obviously what Freddie Kitchens and the Browns coaching staff want to see out of the rookie.
Of course, this is a young player in his first NFL training camp, so it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for Williams. At one point in the practice, Rashard Higgins apparently put him in a blender and Williams then lost his focus and didn’t complete the play, something that Kitchens admonished the young corner for (and rightfully so).
Even still, Williams getting first team reps this early in training camp is an abundantly positive sign. For one, it could very well mean that the concerns that forced him into the second round of the draft were overblown and he’s ready to be a first-round caliber talent at the professional level. That, of course, would be the ideal scenario.
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However, even if he loses out on the CB2 job to Mitchell, Williams is still garnering valuable reps early in his career with these practices. That will only help serve him to develop and, if an injury were to occur, ready him to take the field when called upon. Either way, Williams is in a phenomenal spot to start his career on the Browns defense.