Interesting article on Jimmy Williams

[DuffMan]

Granted the numbers they report as "pedestrian" don't look all that bad to me, but if Williams ends up falling you think Marvin would take him as a safety?

Draft Dish: CB Jimmy Williams' stock in a freefall

March 20, 2006 Print it

By War Room scouts

For Sporting News

The stock of Virginia Tech's Jimmy Williams, long thought to be the No. 1 cornerback in the '06 draft and a possible top-five overall pick, is in a freefall. And a couple NFL coaches have told us that he is off their teams' draft boards all together.

Virginia Tech's on-campus workout for scouts, coaches and front office personnel was one of the most highly anticipated of the pro-day series. The event took place Thursday, with Williams the star attraction, but results have been kept under wraps. Normally, reports on such a high-profile workout would be out the same day.

Coaches and scouts in attendance have been very tight-lipped, leading us to believe there is great debate about Williams' performance. We now have the first word:

Williams measured 6-2 and 216 pounds, about 3 pounds heavier than he weighed at the NFL Combine last month. He ran in the mid-4.4's in the 40, but what followed has scouts concerned. Williams' vertical jump was only 33 inches, and his broad jump was only 9-feet, 8 inches. He could bench press 225 pounds only 12 times, and one coach in attendance said he thought Williams wasn't going to make it past 10.

It didn't get better from there. He ran the three-cone drill in 6.69 seconds and the short shuttle in 4.10 seconds; those numbers are average for an NFL cornerback. He also was inconsistent catching passes during position drills, meaning he might not be able to make many interceptions in the NFL.

Bottom line: Williams is a big guy who can run but lacks explosiveness and strength. He takes risks and is undisciplined, and he shows poor work habits and questionable character. Plus, he turned off many coaches and scouts at the NFL Combine when he didn't work out and then showed a cockiness and bad attitude during interviews with team officials. After a poor senior season and poor NFL Combine appearance, Williams needed an elite performance Thursday. Instead, he looked pedestrian.

Williams' stock is hurt even more when you consider the current NFL rules governing defensive play. Under the old rules, Williams' big, physical frame and straight-line speed would allow him to play in press coverage and dominate at the line of scrimmage. With the "no contact after 5 yards" rule now being called stringently in the NFL, Williams will be limited to a cover-2 scheme.

Williams has good size, but his cornerback movements are not strong. He doesn't twist well or open his hips quickly and smoothly, and that will cause problems against NFL receivers. The Virginia Tech coaches recognized this during the season and tried him at safety, but he struggled terribly. He lacks the intellect and ball skills to play safety, despite meeting the size and straight-line speed requirements.

Finally, Williams' decision to not workout at the NFL Combine has come back to haunt him tenfold. Had he worked out poorly at the Combine, scouts would have written it off as a bad day and he would have had the opportunity to improve at his on-campus workout. Now, scouts must take his workout at face value and assume he is what he is -- a big, fast player with limited football skills and instincts.

The good news is the '06 cornerback class is not deep, so he still could go in the first round.

What we do know is Williams is not the No. 1 cornerback or safety. Texas safety Michael Huff now is the top defensive back in the '06 draft, and Clemson's Tye Hill and Florida State's Antonio Cromartie are the top cornerbacks. Cromartie, who tore three knee ligaments in July 2005 and didn't play last season, had a stellar workout last week for NFL scouts and coaches.

War Room scouts analyze NFL and college players, coaches and teams for the Sporting News.

[ArmyBengal]

I made the comment about Williams' sh*tty attitude a while back. Seems to have resurfaced here. Going solely on the report above, you would have to think he wouldn't impress Marvin with those antics, but the question is, would we take him at #24 ??

WHODEY !!!

[TJJackson]

crap

gonna have to revise my mock again...had no idea about the attitude issues

Back to Kiwi, I guess

[ArmyBengal]

From Virginia Tech site...

--CB Jimmy Williams -- He didn't really help himself by getting kicked out of the Gator Bowl. Some could read that as an indication that he hasn't really overcome the attitude problems that marked his earlier career. (Coach Frank Beamer at one time didn't allow Williams to do interviews.) Still, it's not choir boys the NFL is after, and Williams figures to be an early first-round pick. He also has played safety.

WHODEY !!!

[kingwilly]

I had been hopeful that his performance wopuld be stronger...12 reps is poor...this really goes to being unprepared and not showing a professional attitude...this will turn off many teams/coaches, including ML...what a bummer.

He could actually fall out of r1 if this keeps up....time to revise my mock...and work in the Abraham trade outcome.

[Whur CHad At?]

Bottom line: Williams is a big guy who can run but lacks explosiveness and strength. He takes risks and is undisciplined, and he shows poor work habits and questionable character. Plus, he turned off many coaches and scouts at the NFL Combine when he didn't work out and then showed a cockiness and bad attitude during interviews with team officials. After a poor senior season and poor NFL Combine appearance, Williams needed an elite performance Thursday. Instead, he looked pedestrian.

If ya'll don't want G.Watson for those reasons, then why would we even think about taking this guy. This guy is a liability and we should avoid him at all costs

[WretchedOne]

Jimmy Williams = This Years Adam "Pacman" Jones.

[schweinhart]

Granted the numbers they report as "pedestrian" don't look all that bad to me,

Yeah I gotta wonder some about this article. Some of it reads like a sucker punch.

To call most of the numbers "pedestrian" is misleading. A low 4.4 in the 40 would've served Williams better but mid 4.4 is good enough. The 6.69 cone is better than Cromartie at his Pro Day and Johnathan Joesph at the combine and just a tick off the 6.64 of Tye Hill and the 6.68 of Mike Huff. The short shuttle is off what Cromartie and Huff did but not much less than Hill and better than Joseph and Richard Marshall.

Lift wise, Williams effort is just lame but for CBs the lift is not a very important measruable anyway and he's still better than Ashton Youboty and the same as Marshall. Of true CBs at the combine Cromartie was tied for tops at just 18.

The one measurable that is somehwat concerning is the vertical -- that's not even pedestrian. But it's not a killer for Williams as to whether he can play CB or not. Just shows he's got to rely on his height more than smaller CBs with better spring, but I doubt any team was looking at him for slot coverage where that kind of spring is crucial.

There's no doubt that Williams is off some boards as a cover CB -- not a zone corner -- and he was probably just about off those same boards to begin with. The 5 yard rule hurts all corners, but Williams should still be able to bump and recover with the range speed he has. I haven't seen where Williams definitely can't be one of the better bump corners in this draft if he can maintain discipline. The worst thing I noticed about him playing is he's got some suspect technique like crossing his feet going back instead of backpedaling. But on the whole, Williams can play.

The bottom line character wise is such raps didn't hurt Sean Taylor or Pac Man and they won't hurt Williams if a team thinks he can or can be easily developed into a man corner at the next level. Especially for a team with some cushion to play Williams at FS if he don't respond like he has to at corner right away.

Williams probably is not much far off from where he was before his Pro Day in the middle of the 1st round. But he definitely hasn't helped himself either.

[Whur CHad At?]

I will run in front of a on-coming train if we draft Williams. I will be insanely pissed off. He is a show off, we already have one of those, and that guy is really good at what he does and he backs it up.

[NJ29]

Bottom line: Williams is a big guy who can run but lacks explosiveness and strength. He takes risks and is undisciplined, and he shows poor work habits and questionable character. Plus, he turned off many coaches and scouts at the NFL Combine when he didn't work out and then showed a cockiness and bad attitude during interviews with team officials. After a poor senior season and poor NFL Combine appearance, Williams needed an elite performance Thursday. Instead, he looked pedestrian.

If ya'll don't want G.Watson for those reasons, then why would we even think about taking this guy. This guy is a liability and we should avoid him at all costs

Because Watson's attitude problem's stem from laziness, a horrible work ethic and a lack of production, especially with so much talent present.

Williams is just cocky, mean, and probably a little dumb.

I'll take option 2.