Arizona Cardinals select WR Chad Williams in third round of NFL Draft
Apr 28, 2017, 8:18 PM | Updated: 8:44 pm
Grambling State wide receiver Chad Williams (10) catches a pass from quarterback DeVante Kincade before the end of the second quarter of the Southwestern Athletic Conference NCAA college football championship game Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016, in Houston. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)
(Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)
After trading up in the second round Friday for Washington safety Budda Baker, the Arizona Cardinals traded back in the third round and took wide receiver Chad Williams out of Grambling State with the 98th overall selection.
Welcome home, Mr. Williams!@go_10_ is now a member of your #AZCardinals!
READ: https://t.co/V4Ql98Ew4j pic.twitter.com/2Z5PHDcZqN
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) April 29, 2017
Arizona traded down to 98 from their original spot at 77, acquiring an additional fourth-round pick (No. 115) from the Carolina Panthers.
Williams is a 6-foot-1, 204-pound wideout that had a stellar day at the Grambling Pro Day after not being invited to the NFL Combine. He ran a 4.37 40-yard dash, which would have been the third-quickest time at his position at the NFL Combine, and his 21 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press would have been the second-most among wideouts.
Over his last two seasons at Grambling State, Williams had 154 catches for 2,349 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Williams might sound familiar to some University of Arizona fans, and that’s because Williams had a monster game against the Wildcats in their second game of the 2016 season, catching 13 passes for 152 yards.
In the offseason in 2016 according to The News Star, Williams was one of three men arrested for possession of marijuana and possession of a firearm on the campus of Louisiana State.
NFL.com listed the draft projection for Williams as either round five or six and sees him as a long-term project.
Heavily targeted and highly productive against a lower level of competition. Williams has decent size and ball skills, but looks slow on tape with very disjointed route work. He needs to run well at his workout, but even if he does, he’s a developmental prospect rather than an early helper.
Cardinals general manager Steve Keim and head coach Bruce Arians have had plenty of success in the third round in years past. In 2013, they selected Pro Bowl safety Tyrann Mathieu. In 2014, wide receiver John Brown was chosen at No. 91 and in 2015, last season’s first-team All-Pro running back David Johnson was chosen 86th.
