2021 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Rodarius Williams

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Rodarius Williams, 6-0/195 Cornerback Oklahoma State

Rodarius Williams Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Smooth cover corner

Fast a big corner

Fluid athlete

Loose hips, can flip and run

Agile

Can run the route and prevent separation

Smooth in and out of breaks

Tough, physical defender

Solid tackler

Instinctive

Long frame

Defends 50-50 passes well

Can play off-man or press-man coverage

Solid zone corner

Upside

Weaknesses:

Inconsistent

Grabbed and held too much in 2017-2019

Had issues in transition

Doesn’t have exceptional ball skills

Late to track the ball

Needs to become more consistent

Summary: “Rodarius could be the Joe Burrow of corners,” says one area scout. “He’s not going first overall or anything like that, but entering the season, we had him as a late-round pick or undrafted free agent. But after his senior year, he’s going in the early rounds this year.” The younger brother of Greedy Williams, Rodarius Williams was a 4-year starter who put it all together as a senior after some rough years to start out his collegiate career for the Cowboys.

Williams notched 44 tackles, 10 passes broken up, but zero interceptions as a freshman in 2017. In 2018 (49-8-2) and 2019 (58-6-0), teams successfully threw at Williams, but as a senior, he was superb in shutting down wideouts while totaling 18 tackles and seven passes batted away. Williams then had an underwhelming week at the Senior Bowl, with some signs suggesting a reversion to his 2019 form.



Williams is a tale of two tapes. In the rough years, Williams grabbed and held too much. He had issues transitioning to let receivers create separation, and was late to track the ball. Williams also did not show good ball skills.

In 2020, Williams was much better in transition, showing the agility and athleticism to run the route and prevent separation. He used his height and length to smother wideouts, leading quarterbacks to struggle to get the ball around him. Williams also showed the speed to run downfield and a burst out of the break. He simply looked like a different athlete as a senior compared to the previous three years.

Considering the big difference in tape, Williams is a tough evaluation. His senior-year tape to go along with a cornerback who has size and speed is a combination that says first-round potential. His prior years and his Senior Bowl performance, however, suggest lower. As a result, some teams have him graded on Day 2, with some putting him in the second round and others in the third round. Williams looks likely to go in the second round in the 2021 NFL Draft given the demand for cover corners around the NFL.



Player Comparison: A.J. Bouye. Team sources suggested Bouye as a player who Williams was similar to, and Bouye makes a ton of sense. Bouye had some decent seasons with Texans and Jaguars, showing size and coverage ability. When Bouye had problems, he grabbed too much, and that is a similar issue for Williams. In the NFL, Williams could be a cornerback comparable to Bouye.

2021 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2021 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Paulson Adebo, CB, Stanford Tutu Atwell, WR, Louisville Jhamon Ausbon, WR, Texas A&M Aaron Banks, G, Notre Dame Christian Barmore, DT, Alabama Carlos Basham, DE, Wake Forest Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota Nick Bolton, LB, Missouri Baron Browning, LB, Ohio State Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina Spencer Brown, OT, Northern Iowa Tyson Campbell, CB, Georgia Jackson Carman, OT, Clemson Ja'Marr Chase, WR, LSU Andre Cisco, S, Syracuse Zaven Collins, LB, Tulsa Sam Cosmi, OT, Texas Jabril Cox, LB, LSU Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech Jamin Davis, LB, Kentucky Wyatt Davis, G, Ohio State Landon Dickerson, C, Alabama Liam Eichenberg, OT, Notre Dame D'Wayne Eskridge, WR, Western Michigan Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State Paris Ford, S, Pittsburgh Pat Freiermuth, TE, Penn State Kenny Gainwell, RB, Memphis Richie Grant, S, Central Florida Najee Harris, RB, Alabama Kylin Hill, RB, Mississippi State Trey Hill, C, Georgia Jevon Holland, S, Oregon Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina James Hudson, OT, Cincinnati Talanoa Hufanga, S, USC Creed Humphrey, C, Oklahoma Teven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State Mac Jones, QB, Alabama Patrick Jones, DE, Pittsburgh Brevin Jordan, TE, Miami Kelvin Joseph, CB, Kentucky Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama Walker Little, OT, Stanford Hunter Long, TE, Boston College Terrace Marshall Jr., WR, LSU Jalen Mayfield, OT, Michigan Tre' McKitty, TE, Georgia Davis Mills, QB, Stanford Trevon Moehrig, S, TCU Elijah Molden, CB, Washington Kellen Mond, QB, Texas A&M Dan Moore Jr., OT, Texas A&M Elijah Moore, WR, Ole Miss Rondale Moore, WR, Purdue Dylan Moses, LB, Alabama Israel Mukuamu, CB, South Carolina Jamie Newman, QB, Wake Forest Greg Newsome, CB, Northwestern Daviyon Nixon, DT, Iowa Dayo Odeyingbo, DE, Vanderbilt Osa Odighizuwa, DT, UCLA Azeez Ojulari, LB, Georgia Levi Onwuzurike, DT, Washington Joseph Ossai, LB, Texas Jayson Oweh, DE, Penn State Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah, LB, Notre Dame Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan Ronnie Perkins, OLB, Oklahoma Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida Dillon Radunz, OT, North Dakota Aaron Robinson, CB, Central Florida Quincy Roche, OLB, Miami Larry Rountree, RB, Missouri Gregory Rousseau, DE, Miami Asante Samuel Jr., CB, Florida State Trey Sermon, RB, Ohio State Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon Tyler Shelvin, DT, LSU Rashawn Slater, C, Northwestern DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama D'Ante Smith, OT, East Carolina Trey Smith, G, Tennessee Marquez Stevenson, WR, Houston Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, Oklahoma Eric Stokes, CB, Georgia Chazz Surratt, LB, North Carolina Sage Surratt, WR, Wake Forest Patrick Surtain, CB, Alabama Tamorrion Terry, WR, Florida State Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida Kyle Trask, QB, Florida Joe Tryon, DE, Washington Jay Tufele, DT, USC Payton Turner, DE, Houston T.J. Vasher, WR, Texas Tech Alijah Vera-Tucker, OT, USC Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama Tylan Wallace, WR, Oklahoma State Rashad Weaver, DE, Pittsburgh Javonte Williams, RB, North Carolina Rodarius Williams, CB, Oklahoma State Marvin Wilson, DT, Florida State Zach Wilson, QB, BYU

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