Cardinals’ Garrett Williams makes ESPN’s under-the-radar players list

Arizona Cardinals second-year cornerback Garrett Williams ranked No. 18 in a list of 25 under-the-radar players by ESPN’s Aaron Schatz.

Williams played in nine games as a rookie, notching one interception, two passes defensed and 23 total tackles.

He spent the first half of the season recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered in his final year at Syracuse.

Schatz said Williams’ limited rookie snaps while coming off that injury indicate there’s a lot more potential to untap.

The Cardinals had several rookie cornerbacks last season, but Williams is the one with the most future promise. … When he did make it onto the field, Williams put up minus-17.3% coverage DVOA on 22 targets, allowing just 6.3 yards per pass.

Scouting reports last year lauded Williams for his footwork matching routes as well as his tackling skills. He was more of an outside cornerback in college but may be called upon as the Arizona nickelback this year with rookie Max Melton and veteran Sean Murphy-Bunting on the outside.

Schatz’s list was compiled with a set of criteria: players must be in a draft class from 2021-23, be a third-round or later addition and have a sub-500 snap count so far.

Williams was one of two cornerbacks taken by the Cardinals in the 2023 NFL Draft. Both made Schatz’s list with Kei’Trel Clark appearing as an honorable mention.

Clark started in seven of 14 games played, recording 43 tackles and four passes defensed.

He and Williams will compete for a starting spot along with free agent signing Murphy-Bunting, second-year corner Starling Thomas V, plus rookies Melton and Elijah Jones.