Three Reasons Why USC's Jontez Williams Could Make Major Impact Next Season

With the 2026 season on the horizon, the USC Trojans and coach Lincoln Riley have a great opportunity to take a step forward and finally qualify for the College Football Playoff. However, the Trojans may need significant improvement from the defense to do that.

During the offseason, the Trojans understood they needed to improve on defense, which is a major reason why they brought in cornerback Jontez Williams to help bolster the secondary. So, here are three reasons why Williams could make a major impact in the secondary and help the Trojans qualify for the College Football Playoff.

Game Experience

jontez Williams defensive back USC Trojans iowa state cyclones Big Ten transfer portal college football big 12 conference — Jul 8, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; Iowa State defensive back Jontez Williams answers questions from the media during 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

One of the biggest reasons Williams could make an impact is purely based on how much experience he has at the college level. Before transferring to USC, Williams played three seasons for Iowa State in the Big 12, which helped him to develop into the player he is now.

While the Big Ten does have some of the more elite teams in college football, the Big 12 is also a conference that has plenty of opportunities to compete against great competition. During Williams time with Iowa State, he played in 32 games, which is a significant amount. In 2025, Williams played just five games as his season was cut short due to injury.

In Williams' experience playing for Iowa State during conference play and nonconference play, he was able to compete against teams like Miami, Utah, Texas, and Iowa, who have been some of the more consistent programs across the landscape of college football.

However, it is important to know that experience does not guarantee success, but it does allow players to understand what works, as well as learn from mistakes they have made in the past, which can help them to improve every season.

As Williams prepares for his first season with the Trojans, his experience in the Big 12, and in several nonconference games could help him to acclimate quite quickly to the Big Ten and become a player USC can rely on.

Ball Production

In addition to the experience that Williams has, he has also been able to consistently make plays on the ball, which has helped him to make a name for himself in the secondary.

During Williams three seasons at Iowa State, he recorded 15 pass deflections and five interceptions, which showed that he had a knack for finding the ball and making a play no matter who he was competing against.

Last season, USC totaled 12 interceptions, which ranked 42nd in the country. While the Trojans did a solid job defending the pass, generating more turnovers could be something that benefits the Trojans' defense in a major way.

With USC competing in the Big Ten, several solid quarterbacks across the conference take great care of the ball consistently, including Oregon’s Dante Moore and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin. Based on how hard it can be to stop quarterbacks like Moore and Sayin on a normal basis, being able to take the ball away could be exactly what the Trojans need to get more stops and put themselves in a position to compete with the top teams in the Big Ten.

If Williams can continue to develop his ability to make plays on the ball, he could not only help USC to become a much better defense but could also give himself a chance to turn into one of the better corners in the conference.

Physicality

While having experience and ball production are great, being able to play in the Big Ten requires the ability to play a physical brand of football, whether that be in the run game or the pass game.

With some of the top teams in the Big Ten, like Ohio State and Indiana, there are physical wide receivers who can often give opposing defensive backs problems. For Ohio State, that receiver is Jeremiah Smith, and for Indiana, it is Charlie Becker. Without question, Smith is one of the best receivers in the country and is quite difficult to cover. Becker is also solid and consistently does his job well.

So, having a physical defensive back like Williams could be something that gives USC a major benefit with matchups against both Ohio State and Indiana looming in 2026. Standing at 5-11 and 200 pounds, Williams can match up with stronger receivers and can disrupt timing at the beginning of routes in press coverage and force receivers into uncomfortable situations, which can often eliminate them from the quarterback's progression.

With his size, Williams also has the potential for positional versatility to line up as an outside corner, but also in the slot at nickel corner. With that flexibility, USC defensive coordinator Gary Patterson could get very creative with game plans for the Trojans to limit some of the nation's top receivers like Smith and Becker.

As Williams prepares for next season, his experience, ball production, and physicality are all factors that should help him to be an answer for USC against some of the top receivers in the country and potentially give the Trojans a chance to compete for a Big Ten title.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, and X for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google