What You Need To Know About Garrett Williams

​This article aims to inform Arizona Cardinal fans of their 72nd draft pick, Garrett Williams. I played ball with Williams in high school and have followed his career since. I'll start by saying the Cardinals are getting a man of great character. I know Garrett to be one of the most hardworking and coachable individuals I have ever met, and obviously, those two qualities landed him a spot in the NFL. 

Williams was a few years behind me, and his start was not what many may have expected. He was set to be the next quarterback for the Hickory Ridge Ragin' Bulls, following Greg Waslo (Catawba College | HRHS Class of 2016), Trevor Shue (Lenoir-Rhyne | HRHS Class of 2017), and Dylan Ratliff (UNC Charlotte | HRHS Class of 2018). He was a good quarterback, but our coach (Jason Seidel) was the first to notice his potential at the cornerback position.

It took only a short time after he switched positions for him to gain attention from college scouts. He was named the 2018 Southwestern 4A All-Conference, PrepStar All-Atlantic Team selection, 2017 Charlotte Observer All-Region First Team, and a 2017 Independent Tribune Football "Dream Team" selection. He received offers from West Virginia, Maryland, Appalachian State, a few other Group of 5 schools, and of course, Syracuse.

Below is a copy/paste of his profile on cuse.com that summarizes his college career better than I can.

Redshirt Year (2019): Appeared in four games on special teams ... Member of the kickoff coverage team versus Pittsburgh (10/18), at Florida State (10/26), at Louisville (11/23) and versus Wake Forest (11/30) ... Did not record any statistics.

Redshirt Freshman Year (2020): Named a Freshman All-American by The Athletic … Honorable Mention All-ACC … Led the ACC in passes defended (12) and was seventh nationally at the conclusion of the regular season (second among freshmen) … Tied for the ACC lead with 10 pass breakups … 5.8 tackles per game was the most among ACC cornerbacks, and was third on Syracuse in tackles in 2020 (64) … According to Pro Football Focus, the cornerback duo of Williams and Ifeatu Melifonwu was the seventh-highest graded cornerback duo in the FBS … Made nine tackles and had a pass breakup in his first collegiate start at North Carolina (9/12) … Had six tackles at Pittsburgh (9/19) … Broke up two passes against Georgia Tech (9/26) … Picked off Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence for his first collegiate interception and returned it for a touchdown. It was the first time Lawrence surrendered a pick-six in his illustrious collegiate career. Also had eight tackles, two pass breakups and a tackle for loss against the Tigers (10/24) … Tied a career high with nine tackles and registered his first collegiate sack against Wake Forest (10/31) … Made six tackles and had his third-straight game with a TFL against Boston College (11/7) … Made an acrobatic one-handed interception against Louisville (11/20) … Had eight tackles and a career-high three pass breakups at Notre Dame (12/5).

Redshirt Freshman Year (2021): All-ACC selection ... Started 10 games at corner ... Led all Orange defensive backs with 52 tackles and 5.0 tackles for loss ... Led the ACC in pass breakups for the second-straight season (10) ... Second in the ACC in passes defended per game ... Made four tackles, had a pass breakup and a sack in the Orange’s season-opening win at Ohio (9/4) ... Had a season-best eight tackles and a tackle for loss in the home opener against Rutgers (9/11) ... Made two solo stops and broke up two passes from Liberty QB Malik Willis in the Orange’s win over Liberty (9/24) ... Had five tackles, a quarterback hurry and a pass breakup against Florida State (10/10) ... Made six tackles and had a pair of pass breakups in ‘Cuse’s OT loss to Wake Forest (10/9) ... Had a season-high seven solo tackles and a tackle for loss against Clemson (10/15) ... Made seven tackles and had a season-high two tackles for loss and a pair of pass breakups vs. Boston College (10/30) ... Made five solo tackles against Louisville (11/13) ... Had four tackles and a pass breakup at NC State (11/20) ... Had four tackles and helped the Orange defense hold Pitt to its lowest passing yardage of the season vs. the Panthers (11/27) ... Ben Schwartzwalder Award winner ... Member of the SU Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in the spring semester.

Redshirt Sophomore Year (2022): Team captain ... Honorable Mention All-ACC ... Started seven games at corner before suffering a season-ending injury vs. Notre Dame ... Still finished second on the team in interceptions (2) and pass breakups (3), despite only playing half a season ... Anchored a defensive unit that finished in the season 14th nationally in passing defense (184.8) and 21st in total defense (328.6). At the time of his injury, the Syracuse defense ranked: 1st in the ACC (16th nationally) in total defense (303.1 ypg), 1st in the ACC (3rd nationally) in passing yards allowed (164.5), and 2nd in the ACC (19th nationally) in scoring defense (18.4 ppg) ... Allowed just 14 completions through seven games ... Made nine tackles and a crucial interception in the season-opening victory over Louisville (9/3) ... Made seven tackles and a sack at UConn (9/10) ... Notched 10 tackles and two pass breakups against Purdue (9/17) ... Had two takeaways in the win over Virginia (9/23), making an interception, and also forcing a fumble that he recovered, to compliment three tackles in the contest ... Earned ACC Defensive Back of the Week (9/26) for his efforts vs. the Cavaliers ... Made two tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss vs. NC State (10/15) ... Had four tackles vs. Notre Dame (10/29) ... Announced he was entering the NFL Draft at the conclusion of the 2022 season ... Earned the Pat Miller Award, which is given to 'the total package' student-athlete and honors an outstanding athlete, student and citizen, who is a loyal and dedicated teammate, excels in the classroom and is a selfless contributor in his community.

I believe he could have gone in the first round of this year's draft if not for his ACL injury and this pick I predict Arizona fans will look back as a steal. I'm going to have a great time watching his NFL career unfold and hope that the Arizona Cardinals fans will come to love him as much as that little town of Harrisburg, North Carolina does!

Article Sources
Garrett Williams - Football - Syracuse University Athletics
https://cuse.com/sports/football/roster/williamsgarrett/21455

Other websites to visit
24/7 Sports
NFL.com