Syracuse had an amazing secondary last year. Along with Ifeatu Melifonwu and Andre Cisco was unsung hero Trill Williams. Playing primarily slot cornerback for the Orange might limit his value, but his presence on the field was impactful. With many draft boards putting Williams in the third round and even saying that he should be a boundary cornerback, it is hard to not be intrigued with this prospect. Are the scouts right? Is Williams a boundary corner? Is he even worth a Day 2 pick? Let’s dive into the tape and find out.
Make sure to check out all of our other 2021 NFL Draft Scouting Reports.
Player Bio
Name: Trill Williams
Jersey: #6
Position: Cornerback
School: Syracuse
Class: Junior
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 198 lbs
Man Coverage (5.75/10)
Williams has moments of excellence in man coverage. Dazz Newsome attempted a double move, yet he did not miss a step. When Williams is out of position, he tends to use aggressiveness to even the playing field. His hips are pretty loose, which is a solid trait to have. Although there is praise to go to Williams, there also is some deserved criticism.
Curls are a major kryptonite. The major issue is that the Syracuse product gives up an extensive amount of ground in order to not get burned over the top. Given his testing numbers, it is surprising that this is a fear of his. Adding onto the negatives, Williams lost his man in a switch route scheme. Overall, there are both positives and negatives worth noting.
Note: 5.0 is average, 9.0 is elite.
Zone Coverage (7.25/10)
Williams shines in zone coverage. He may be afraid of being burned, but that does not seem to seem into his zone coverage. The Syracuse product commands his zone as well as most in this class. Past five yards from the line of scrimmage, he will be a threat to the offense. Deep and medium zones are where Williams plays his best. This may push the former Orange into a safety role.
Press (6.25/10)
Williams is either great or terrible in press depending on who he is guarding. When dealing with smaller slot wide receivers, his press coverage is lethal. Few can get past him. The aforementioned double move was the epitome of what press should be. Consistency is needed to boost this score. Williams has an issue against stronger slot receivers, especially tight ends. Tight ends simply bully him at the top of their break. This may limit Williams’s role into a free safety unless there is a sub-package that puts a linebacker on the tight end.
Instincts (6.0/10)
Williams has a solid feel for pass coverage, yet he is not as good when it comes to the run. The zone coverage instincts definitely carry this score above average. The issues with curls limit the score, however. In terms of the run game, Williams is hit or miss. This is evident in the contrast between his run defense on the goal line and against an outside zone run scheme. This inconsistency should scare teams from putting him in certain sub-packages.
Run Defense (4.0/10)
Williams is not much of a factor in the ground game. His best attributes in this category are that he takes solid pursuit angles and that he engages with blocks. There was one play where Williams shot through a gap from the safety position on an outside zone run and leveled the running back. To be fair, the hole was at least ten feet wide, so it was pretty easy to spot where the play was developing. Once again, tight ends bully Williams. His tackling is spotty: PFF has given him a 55.1 tackling grade for the 2020 season. Overall, there is not much to rave about. Williams should not be used in the run game, if possible.
Ball Skills (5.5/10)
This is a mixed bag. Williams has had four interceptions over his three years at Syracuse. Every year had at least one with his sophomore season yielding two. Although that sounds solid, the Syracuse product allowed a 79.1 passer rating on 58.7% completion percentage over his three years. Unfortunately, the statistics got worse in his final year with a 66.7% completion percentage and an 80.1 passer rating allowed. Trending down in this department is not a great selling point if Williams wants to be selected on day two.
Straight Line Speed (6.0/10)
Interestingly, Williams tested his speed at 4.42 seconds on his forty-yard dash. In reality, he plays around 4.5. The Syracuse product seems to get burnt over the top easily with just enough recovery speed to make the quarterback resist throwing the ball. The lack of play speed is quite evident when looking at how deep Williams lines up in all coverages. What makes this category interesting is that the speed that rarely shows up in coverage appears when he tracks down ball carriers. For some reason, Williams looks like he has 4.42 speed then but only 4.5 speed when he covers receivers. Hopefully, this is not a sign of poor motor.
Short Area Burst (6.25/10)
The acceleration is apparent given Williams’s recovery speed. His ability to move fluidly and accelerate both positively and negatively is slightly above par. This explains why he gets riddled by curls. Overall, the burst bails out Williams from looking like a sixth-round prospect.
Versatility (6.25/10)
Williams definitely does not look built for an outside corner, although he has enough room to grow into one. Slot cornerback may be the worst position to place him in the secondary outside of strong safety. Surprisingly, the burst, zone coverage skills, and pass instincts make Williams a strong candidate for being a single-high free safety. In short, he can play in the slot against smaller wide receivers, he can potentially develop to play boundary corner, but he would thrive at safety.
Competitive Toughness (3.25/5)
This was disappointing. Williams seems to take plays off. There was a weird consistency of jogging rather than running during the play. This may make up for the coverage depth and lack of tape in the run game. Simply put, the motor is certainly a concern.
Injury (3.5/5)
Williams had to leave a game in 2019 due to an ankle injury. Unfortunately, it appears as if he was playing with another ankle injury for the entirety of 2020.
Player Summary
There is a lot to like and a lot to hate about Williams. So long as the prospect proves that he has a solid motor, the sky’s the limit. Many teams are in need of a single-high safety, a slot corner, and a boundary corner. Williams seems to fill one of those roles in starting fashion, but he can fill in the other roles until injuries heal or additions to the roster are made. This may be valued heavier by some teams than others.
The concern is that Williams’s best-projected position is one of the positions that have the fewest amounts of reps. In other words, the tape is not consistently there for the position that he might be drafted for. That makes it really hard to put him near the end of day two, but a team might be willing to reach there. His talent screams third round, but the motor concerns and lack of experience at safety drop it slightly to its final resting place. Time will tell as to whether Williams flourishes into the star that he could be.
Final Grade (53.75/100): Early Fourth Round
Player Comp: Slightly less talented Jamar Johnson
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