Darious Williams

Darious Williams (born March 15, 1993) is an American football cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UAB. After signing as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens, Williams went on to join the Los Angeles Rams, where he won a championship with the team during Super Bowl LVI.

Darious Williams
refer to caption
Williams with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2022
No. 31 – Jacksonville Jaguars
Position:Cornerback
Personal information
Born: (1993-03-15) March 15, 1993
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Height:5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight:187 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school:Creekside (St. Johns, Florida)
College:UAB
Undrafted:2018
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2023
Total tackles:211
Forced fumbles:2
Fumble recoveries:2
Pass deflections:54
Interceptions:9
Defensive touchdowns:2
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early life and high school

Williams was born and grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. He originally attended Bartram Trail High School before transferring to Creekside High School after his freshman year. He played basketball, football and ran track at Creekside.[1]

College career

Williams played one season at D-III Marietta College in Ohio before leaving after the season due to family issues. He then enrolled at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for the spring semester and originally was turned down after a tryout to join the football team as a walk-on.[2] He made the team as a walk-on in 2014 under new head coach Bill Clark and was awarded a scholarship midway through the season. After UAB dropped football after the season, Williams attended Florida State College at Jacksonville and worked as a flower delivery man until UAB brought back the program in June 2015, turning down several offers to transfer.[1]

Over the course of two seasons with the Blazers, Williams played in 25 games (18 starts), recording 73 tackles, 26 passes defenced and 6 interceptions (two returned for a touchdown). He was named first-team All-Conference USA and named a first-team All-American by Pro Football Focus during for the 2017 season after making 50 tackles with a conference leading 15 passes broken up and five interceptions (fourth in the nation).[3]

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
5 ft 9+5⁄8 in
(1.77 m)		 184 lb
(83 kg)		 30+3⁄4 in
(0.78 m)		 8+3⁄4 in
(0.22 m)		4.44 s1.52 s2.56 s4.34 s6.85 s39 in
(0.99 m)		10 ft 2 in
(3.10 m)		13 reps
All values from UAB's Pro Day[4]

Baltimore Ravens

Williams went undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft. On May 4, 2018, the Baltimore Ravens signed Williams to a three-year, $1.71 million contract as an undrafted free agent.[3][5]

Throughout training camp, Williams competed for a roster spot as a backup cornerback against Stanley Jean-Baptiste and Bennett Jackson.[6] Head coach John Harbaugh named Williams the seventh backup cornerback on the depth chart to start his rookie season, behind Brandon Carr, Jimmy Smith, Marlon Humphrey, Anthony Averett, Maurice Canady, and Tavon Young.[7] He made his NFL debut on September 13, 2018, against the Cincinnati Bengals, playing on special teams.[8] On October 6, 2018, the Baltimore Ravens waived Williams after Jimmy Smith returned from his four-game suspension.[9]

Los Angeles Rams

On October 8, 2018, Williams was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Rams.[10] Head coach Sean McVay named Williams the sixth cornerback on the depth chart, behind Marcus Peters, Sam Shields, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Troy Hill, and Dominique Hatfield.[11] He remained on the Rams roster for the rest of the 2018, appearing in one game. Williams made the Rams 53-man roster out of training camp the next season. He scored his first NFL touchdown on October 20, 2019, against the Atlanta Falcons, recovering a fumble in the end zone on a punt return. The game was also the first start of his career at cornerback.[12] Williams recorded his first career interception, picking off a tipped pass by Jimmy Garoppolo, on December 21, 2019, in his second career start against the San Francisco 49ers.[13] In the following week's game against the Arizona Cardinals, Williams intercepted a pass thrown by Kyler Murray during the 31–24 win.[14] Williams played in 14 games during the 2019 season, starting three and finishing the year with 15 tackles, four passes defended, two interceptions and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.[15]

In Week 2 of the 2020 season against the Philadelphia Eagles, Williams recorded his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by Carson Wentz during the 37–19 win.[16] In Week 4 against the New York Giants, Williams recorded an interception off a pass thrown by Daniel Jones late in the fourth quarter to secure a 17–9 Rams’ win.[17] In Week 10 against the Seattle Seahawks he picked off Russell Wilson twice and also broke up a third pass in the end zone.[18] In the Wild Card Round of the playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks, Williams intercepted another pass thrown by Russell Wilson and returned it for a 42-yard touchdown during the 30–20 win.[19]

On March 15, 2021, the Rams placed a first-round restricted free agent tender on Williams.[20] He signed the one-year contract on April 21.[21] He suffered an ankle injury in Week 5 and was placed on injured reserve on October 12.[22] He was activated on November 6. Williams helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals. He recorded eight tackles in the game.[23][24]

Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 16, 2022, Williams signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.[25][26]

In Week 5 of the 2023 season against the Buffalo Bills, he made an interception on quarterback Josh Allen in a Jaguars win.

References
  1. Frenette, Gene (October 24, 2020). "L.A. Story: NFL journey of Rams' Darious Williams would make a good Hollywood movie". Florida Times-Union. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  2. Chassen, Alexis (April 7, 2018). "Darious Williams is a top prospect out of UAB that nobody is talking about". SBNation.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  3. "UNDRAFTED ROOKIE FREE AGENTS" (PDF). Baltimore Ravens Media Guide. www.ravenspr.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  4. "Darious Williams, Alabama-Birmingham, CB, 2018 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  5. "Spotrac.com: Darious Williams contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  6. "Pushing to make the Ravens roster, CB Stanley Jean-Baptiste believes that he can be "one of the best in the league"". www.baltimorebeatdown.com. August 29, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  7. "Ravens' depth chart projection after initial cuts". ravenswire.usatoday.com. September 1, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  8. "Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals - September 13th, 2018-Snap counts". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  9. Brown, Clifton (October 6, 2018). "Jimmy Smith Added to 53-Man Roster, Darious Williams Released". BaltimoreRavens.com.
  10. Simmons, Myles (October 8, 2018). "Rams Awarded DB Darious Williams off Waivers". TheRams.com.
  11. "Ourlads.com: Los Angeles Rams Depth Chart: 11/01/2018". Ourlads.com. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  12. Jackson, Stu (October 20, 2019). "Game Recap: Rams snap 3-game losing streak with 37-10 win over Falcons". TheRams.com.
  13. DaSilva, Cameron (December 22, 2019). "Rams' Week 16 studs and duds: Donald and Fowler shine, Rapp struggles". Rams Wire. USA Today. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  14. "Rams say goodbye to Coliseum with 31-24 win over Cardinals". www.espn.com. Associated Press. December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  15. "Rams' Darious Williams: Ends season with starting duties". CBSSports.com. January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  16. "Los Angeles Rams at Philadelphia Eagles - September 20th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  17. "New York Giants at Los Angeles Rams - October 4th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  18. "Darious Williams grabs Seahawks' attention with two INTs". Los Angeles Times. November 15, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  19. "Wild Card - Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks - January 9th, 2021". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  20. Jackson, Stu (March 15, 2021). "Rams tender restricted free agent Darious Williams". TheRams.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  21. Smith, Michael David (April 21, 2021). "Rams' Darious Williams signs one-year tender". NBCSports.com. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  22. "Rams place CB Darious Williams on injured reserve". Turf Show Times. SB Nation. October 12, 2021.
  23. Schwartz, Paul (February 13, 2021). "LA Rams defeat Cincinnati Bengals to win Super Bowl 2022". New York Post. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  24. "Super Bowl LVI - Los Angeles Rams vs. Cincinnati Bengals - February 13th, 2022". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  25. Shook, Nick (March 16, 2022). "Jaguars agree to terms with ex-Rams CB Darious Williams on three-year, $30M deal". NFL.com. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  26. Oehser, John (March 17, 2022). "Official: Williams agrees to terms". Jaguars.com. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
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