Former Indiana Football CB Jaylin Williams Cut by Minnesota Vikings

Former Indiana cornerback Jaylin Williams has been released by the Minnesota Vikings.

Williams originally signed with the NFC North squad as an undrafted free agent back in April, but was released on Tuesday as NFL teams finalized their 53-man rosters for the 2023 season.

The news of Williams' release was particularly painful, as it seemed that the former Hoosier might have made the team for a short time.

Originally, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that the Vikings had cut both Joejuan Williams and NaJee Thompson, which seemingly indicated that Williams would have made the 53-man roster.

However, Pelissero later corrected his reporting, as Thompson did make the final Minnesota roster, while Indiana's Jaylin Williams fell just short. The other defensive back in question — Joejuan Williams — had his contract terminated.

Ah! False alarm?https://t.co/QVeyM2PT0B
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) August 29, 2023

Williams was a mainstay in the secondary for coach Tom Allen and the Hoosiers during his five years in Bloomington. He arrived in 2018 as an undersized defensive back from Memphis, Tenn., and quickly saw the field as a true freshman. In total, Williams would play in 54 games for Indiana from 2018-22. Few players have ever donned the crimson and cream more often than he did.

While teammates like fellow cornerback Tiawan Mullen racked up more accolades than Williams did at IU, it was Jaylin who tied Jamar Johnson for the team's lead in interceptions in 2020 with four. Williams was integral to an Indiana secondary that picked off opposing quarterbacks 17 times in eight games during the Covid-shortened season, that remains one of the best years in the history of Hoosier football.

For his career, Williams finished with six interceptions, 30 pass deflections, 152 total tackles and 6.5 sacks.

Three years later, and I'm still trying to figure out what Joe Milton was thinking on this pass #iufb pic.twitter.com/RZDiVkI2al
— Dan Olinger (@dan_olinger) August 11, 2023

After he intercepted Seattle Seahawks' quarterback Drew Lock in his first NFL preseason action, things looked promising for Williams.

The Vikings' defense was largely a disaster in 2022, despite the team's 13-4 regular season record. In total, Minnesota surrendered the second most passing yards in the NFL last season, finishing ahead of only the Tennessee Titans. There seemed to be real optimism that Williams' play in preseason games and training camp was enough for the undrafted free agent to secure a spot.

But alas, much like the aforementioned Mullen, Williams just barely missed the 53-man roster cut, and now finds himself without an NFL team.

It's unfortunate to see another Indiana football player get released in the final week of August. However, Hoosier fans will always have that hysterical interception Williams got off Joe Milton in 2020, and now have a hysterical interception off Lock to pair with it.

🔊SOUND ON🔊

Jaylin Williams showcased some stuff in the Vikings pre-season opener that can help him make the Vikings PS, at least.

I broke down his interception here:#skol @TheVikingsWire pic.twitter.com/uBd4upFhhE
— Kevin Fielder 🇫🇮 (@RivalsFielder) August 12, 2023

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