New York Giants Training Camp Preview: CB Rodarius Williams

Can cornerback Rodarius Williams pick up where he left off before suffering a torn ACL?

Cornerback Rodarius Williams is still a relative unknown to New York Giants fans. A sixth-round pick in 2021, Williams played in just five games as a rookie before tearing his ACL and being placed on injured reserve to end the season.

Williams was among the oldest rookies in the NFL last season at 25 years old, following his five-year career at Oklahoma State, four of which as a starting cornerback. In those four years, he had two interceptions and one season as an All-Big XII player as a senior.

A Shreveport, Louisiana native, Williams isn’t the only member of his family in the NFL, as his younger brother is current Cleveland Browns cornerback and former second-round pick Greedy Williams. 

But let's focus on what Rodarius brings to a Giants cornerback unit that, with a couple of exceptions, is relatively young and inexperienced in terms of NFL snaps.

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What He Brings

Coming out of Oklahoma State, Williams was an intriguing draft prospect. Williams is listed as 6-foot tall and has good enough arm length. But on film, he plays as if he’s 6-foot-2.

Physicality is the name of the game for Williams, who successfully gets his arms in the personal space of receivers to disrupt their release and is more than willing to get mixed up in run defense.

After the press, though, Williams didn’t seem agile enough to line up and play man defense consistently and was rather inconsistent in zone coverage, despite playing a variety of coverages in Jim Knowles’ defense.

Based on his physical traits and film, Williams might best be suited as an outside cornerback tasked with taking on the larger receivers in man-to-man defense. Williams should be able to develop into a solid Cover 3 or Cover 4 corner in a zone defense.

This isn’t to say that Williams won’t eventually become a successful cornerback at the NFL level, but finding a role for him in this Giants defense will be key to his development and success.

Productivity-wise, Williams was targeted 212 times at Oklahoma State and allowed 115 completions for 1,636 yards, 11 touchdowns, and two interceptions. Williams was targeted four times in his brief NFL career, allowing four completions for 70 yards and a touchdown.

Williams has experience contributing in all facets of special teams except as a returner and could continue playing that role in the NFL.

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His Contract

As the 201st overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Williams signed a contract worth $3,653,136 over four years with $173,136 in guaranteed money.

If the Giants were to release Williams before the start of the season, there would be a dead cap penalty of $129,852. The move would free $738,432 in cap space for the Giants in 2022.

Williams will account for .42% of the Giants' cap space in 2022, making him one of the least expensive players on the roster.

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Roster Projection/Expectations

Williams should, deservedly so, be on the Giants roster for the 2022 season. He is an inexpensive draft pick that never got a chance to develop last season, and he plays outside corner, where the Giants need help behind projected starters Adoree’ Jackson and Aaron Robinson.

Williams could work his way up to being the third-best outside cornerback option for the Giants coming off the injured reserve. Michael Jacquet III, Maurice Canady, Darren Evans, and Zyon Gilbert are also cornerbacks who could compete for that outside spot as well, with projected slot corners Darnay Holmes or Cor’Dale Flott occasionally shifting to the boundary.

Long-term, Williams has the potential to develop into a quality NFL cornerback and shouldn’t be given up on, but he needs to put in a good deal of work to reach his ceiling.

  

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