ARIZONA CARDINALS

Rookie Brandon Williams creating buzz in Cardinals’ offseason workouts

Jun 12, 2016, 12:00 PM | Updated: Jun 13, 2016, 9:29 am

Arizona Cardinals' Brandon Williams (26) runs drills during a team practice, Tuesday, May 17, 2016,...

Arizona Cardinals' Brandon Williams (26) runs drills during a team practice, Tuesday, May 17, 2016, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

(AP Photo/Matt York)

For the third consecutive season, a third-round pick is creating buzz in Arizona Cardinals’ offseason workouts.

Following in John Brown and David Johnson’s footsteps, 2016 third-round pick Brandon Williams has been a rookie to watch.

Williams spoke with Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Thursday morning and discussed how the buzz surrounding him is not getting to his head.

“I’m not a finished product. I’ve got a long way to go,” Williams said. “You can’t get caught up in the media and the buzz. It gets you off-track and the main goal for me is to stay focused.”

Williams is remaining on-track with his workouts and study habits, despite experiencing more freedom at the professional level than what he had during his the college career.

“It’s a different aspect because we have so much time off of the field, so with those times when you’re not with your coaches and teammates you gotta know how to handle that time as far as studying, taking care of your body and doing the little things right,” Williams said.

In regard to taking care of his body and studying, Williams said, “I did it in college, so it’s nothing new to me, as far as taking care of my body. As far as studying, I’m getting better at that. I never did it in college, I’m going to be honest with you, I never did that in college.”

Williams began his college career at Oklahoma as a five-star recruit at running back, but later transferred to Texas A&M to be closer to his daughter. He transitioned from running back to cornerback in 2015.

Williams totaled 37 tackles and seven passes defended in 13 games for the Aggies last season.

After switching to defensive back, Williams’ defensive coordinator was John Chavis, who was the defensive coordinator at LSU at the same time Tyrann Mathieu and Patrick Peterson roamed the secondary for the Tigers.

Williams now joins Mathieu and Peterson in the Cardinals secondary, who were tested often in the offseason workouts by the Cardinals great receiving corps.

When Williams was asked if he was intimidated by guarding Fitzgerald, he laughed it off.

“Oh no, you can’t have that mentality at corner. You got to be confident in yourself. That’s one of the number of things I know I have, my belief in myself,” Williams said. “I know I might not have the best technique, I might mess up here or there. One thing about me is I’m always going to stand up to a challenge.”

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