LSU cornerback Greedy Williams walked the red carpet on the first night of the NFL draft Thursday night in Nashville, resplendent in a red suit, white shirt and gold bow tie.
He sat for four hours as 32 names were called in the first round and none of them were him. Williams left Nashville before the start of tonight's second round and returned to Shreveport.
Three defensive backs were drafted round 1 and five more DBs were picked in round 2 before Williams was finally picked 46th overall by the Cleveland Browns.
Williams is the Browns' first selection in the draft. Cleveland did not hold a first-round selection for the first time since 2008. The Browns traded up from No. 49 to 46 in a deal with the Indianapolis Colts.
Williams, is the 19th Tigers’ defensive back drafted since 2007. LSU now has had at least one defensive back selected in 11 of the last 13 NFL drafts.
The 6-2 187-pound Williams started in all 24 games he played for the Tigers. A two-time All-SEC first-team honoree and a first-team all-American last year, he finished his career with eight interceptions, 71 tackles and 28 passes defended. He declined to play in the Fiesta Bowl in January and declared for the draft.
Williams’ length and closing speed made him one of college football’s best cover corners. His NFL combine 40-yard dash time of 4.37 seconds was the second fastest of the cornerbacks.
But his perceived weaknesses – lack of physicality and tackling – as well as the fact he didn't meet personally with an NFL teams dropped his early projections from a top 10 pick to a mid to late first-round draft choice to out of the first round.
“If that’s where you want to put a lot of your emphasis (on tackling), that’s not his (Williams) deal,” Daniel Jeremiah, an NFL Network analyst said in February at the NFL combine. Sometimes you miss a tackle here or there, but he hasn’t been interested. Hanging onto blocks and not really making an effort at times.”
Williams has said repeatedly that he wasn’t asked to provide rush defense support and that tackling won’t be an issue for him.
“I'm the best (cornerback in the draft),” Williams said at LSU’s Pro Day. “I played two years at LSU with eight picks. Cornerbacks I'm competing with that's up there with me have got seven in four years. Stats don't lie.”
NFL teams didn't feel that way. Williams was the sixth cornerback taken, including behind fellow SEC cornerbacks Deandre Baker of Georgia (Round 1 No. 30 overall by New York Giants) and Joejuan Williams of Vanderbilt (Round 2 No. 40 overall by the New England Patriots).
Spotrac, which tracks salaries in pro leagues, is projecting Williams will sign a contract with the Browns worth $6,444,428 with a signing bonus of $2,706,856.
