Giants Rookie Cornerback Rodarius Williams' Nickname Revealed
At the start of training camp, Giants rookie cornerback Rodarius Williams, whose younger brother Greedy Williams has a happening moniker, admitted that he and his teammates were in search of something just as fitting for him.
Well, it seems as though that search might be over, at least for now, for "Lee Lee."
“I think that’s his middle name,” cornerback Adoree' Jackson said after he revealed the moniker the defensive backs came up with for the 24-year-old rookie out of Oklahoma State.
“It’s Lee; we call him Lee Lee, twice,” Jackson added.
This year, Williams, the second of the Giants’ sixth-round draft picks, has certainly been turning heads this summer. At Oklahoma State, the 6'0, 195-pound Williams allowed just 54.2% of the pass attempts against him to be completed and did not surrender a touchdown reception last season.
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Williams has seen his stock rapidly ascend to the point where he's made the most of his opportunities, particularly those with the first-team defense, for whom his play-making ability has turned the heads of both his coaches and his teammates.
"I think he has a lot of skill," said cornerback James Bradberry. "Now, it's just him getting adjusted to the speed of the NFL and also learning the system. Once he learns the system, I think he'll be able to play even faster."
“He’s a dog out there, man,” Jackson said of his teammate. “Every day at practice, I say, ‘You know who I came to see.’ I come to see him work, see him play. Like, I watch him and everything that he does. I’m just trying to improve, and see what he does, and I try to add it to my game, so I appreciate having him. It keeps everybody on edge. So, he’s talented player, he's special. I just like seeing him go out there and competing.”
Williams' strong camp has consisted of multiple interceptions and pass breakups. And when he's not making plays on his own, he's setting up plays for others to make.
"He’s got a lot of instincts," head coach Joe Judge said of Williams at the start of camp. "He’s got good size and length, shows good speed. He’s got good instincts for the ball and shows good hands, so he’s a guy that’s shown up positively in a lot of practices as far as getting his hands on the ball."
Judge has particularly been impressed by how quickly Williams has grasped the defensive schemes considering he didn't start learning them until coming in after the draft.
"He’s dong a really good job with (DBs coach) Jerome (Henderson) of working on his fundamentals and going forward," Judge said.
"This guy is making gains every day. One thing he does do that’s positive is he learns not only from his own mistakes, he learns from the other guys’ mistakes, too."
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