NFL Draft Prospects 2019: Cornerback - Joejuan Williams, Vanderbilt
This former all-state pick from Nashville was quickly recruited by the nearby Commodores. After spending his first year as a reserve, Williams started all 26 games these last two years. He was already a strong cog in that defense as a sophomore, breaking up ten passes, but it was last season that he really put his name on the map, recording four interceptions, 14 PBUs and being voted second-team All-SEC by league coaches.
Williams is ridiculously long press-corner at 6’3”. He was almost exclusively lined up on the right outside of the defense, but also was used to match up with some receivers in specific games. While speed isn’t his forte, Williams rarely was beaten deep. He recovers against curls and comebacks surprisingly well for a long-legged guy.
Williams is about as physical and hands-on as any corner in this draft. He stacks a ton of routes and won’t even let guys get a step on him. In addition to that, he will turn his head and find the ball once he sees his receiver tracking it. I think Williams has the skill-set to develop into a tight-end eraser and matchup piece for some NFL team. He rips at the ball until the very last moment and still cancels some completions that were all but called dead. He had this wonderful late denial versus Ole Miss along the sideline that way.
For a guy his size, Williams shows excellent closing burst, which leads to successful late contests combined with his length. He does a good job forcing receivers inside in cover-two and falling off when there is no underneath target for him to cover. Williams generally stays true to his assignments and doesn’t bite on transparent fakes underneath. This is a premier run-support corner and tough to get away from because of his length and strength. He doesn’t mind going through somebody to shut down screen passes his way.
Williams had a really strong day versus Miles Boykin and the Notre Dame receivers as well as A.J. Brown and DaMarkus Lodge of Ole Miss, who both had pretty good days, but almost all of their production came against the opposite corner. Williams allowed a reception on less than every twelve coverage snaps.
Long speed is a major question mark with Williams, running 4.64 at the combine. He lacks some patience in press and won’t be able to recover from missed punches against the top-flight athletes in the NFL the way he did versus college opponents. However, he also doesn’t bring much upside in off-man, because of limited change-of-direction ability. He will try to rip the ball loose instead of making the secure tackle at times and misses a few of them. His style of play will not directly translate to the next level when you see how he snatches cloth at the top of routes.
Williams would fit well as a press-man corner against big-bodied wideout or in a cover-two based scheme, where he can also be physical underneath and helps out your run defense. You could call him somewhat of a developmental prospect and speed is a major limitation when it comes to his fits, but I really enjoyed the bully-ish style of play and the way he imposed his will on some of the receivers he faced.