James Williams, S/LB Miami: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Williams was a five-star recruit from American Heritage School in Plantation, Fla. in the class of 2021

Miami safety James Williams began making the transition to linebacker at the Senior Bowl. Williams has some tweener traits that prevent him from playing either position at a high enough level to warrant a top 100 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

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James Williams, S Miami: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Junior safety from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Background: Williams was a five-star recruit from American Heritage School in Plantation, Fla. in the class of 2021. He was the No. 15 recruit according to 247Sports, No. 20 for Rivals, and No. 21 for On3.com. ESPN ranked him 35th (four-star) in the nation with an 87 grade out of 100. As a high school junior, Williams amassed 62 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, six interceptions, four passes defensed, five forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and a pick-six. He was a First Team MaxPreps Junior All-American in 2019 when he helped his school win the district title. Williams earned invitations to the Under Armour All-America Game and U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Injuries & Off-Field: Season-ending surgery for groin injury in 2021, missed 2022 Virginia game, played 2022 with a torn labrum in his left shoulder that required surgery in the offseason

Awards: 2021 Honorable Mention All-ACC

Pros: Special teams snaps on the kick return, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units, good height, appears to have NFL-caliber arms, good hip mobility at his size, long strides, plays hard and loves to get into it with offensive players, reads the quarterback’s eyes, quick to diagnose and close on routes in front of him, anticipates receivers or tight ends breaking open over the intermediate MOF, quick downhill trigger, tracks the ball carrier well at the second and third levels, often comes to balance as a tackler and wraps up, goes for the tone-setting hits, arm length helps separate from blocks

Cons: Committed 11 penalties over the past two years, lean and narrow build, arm length doesn’t quite match frame, build needs to be evaluated in-person, some tightness in lower body shows up in turn radius, motor runs hot and cold, pulls up and jogs in pursuit sometimes, aggression backfires and leads to penalties, foot speed, lacks ideal top speed, stop-start speed and agility, recovery speed, closing burst appears average, lacks traits for man coverage, grabby in man coverage, don’t make him turn his back to the QB, beaten over the top when starting near the LOS, caught flat-footed and blow past on vertical routes, limited range, drawn down by eye candy in the backfield, playmakers erase his angles because of his speed, agile playmakers make him miss in space, dragged as a tackler for extra yards, shoulder hits don’t knock ball carriers off their feet consistently, likes to drop his shoulder and go for a big hit on the move, hands need to be more violent when facing blocks

Overview: Williams has significant special teams experience on the kick return, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units. The first thing that jumps out about him on tape is his height. The towering safety has a lean and narrow build with arms that should meet NFL thresholds but aren’t quite as outstanding as his height. Miami deploys Williams in various alignments and roles, including two-high, single-high, box, slot, and robber positions. His slot snaps are usually limited to matching up with tight ends since he lacks the agility and speed for man coverage against receivers. Williams doesn’t have the speed or range to keep his single-high snaps in the NFL, but his two-high and box snaps should stick. He played strong safety in Cover 4 and some Cover 6 for the Hurricanes. Miami rotated from two-high to single-high and vice versa post-snap, usually with Williams not being the rotating defender. The junior has good hip mobility at his size and uses long strides to eat up ground. He plays a tough brand of football, frequently antagonizing and getting into shoving matches with offensive players. He needs to make sure this approach doesn’t result in more penalties since he already drew 11 yellow flags over the past two years. In coverage, Williams reads the quarterback’s eyes and quickly diagnoses and closes on routes that break in front of him. He does a good job anticipating and trying to take away intermediate routes that break over the middle of the field. Williams has a quick downhill trigger. He tracks the ball carrier well and is better working horizontally than vertically against runs or screens. His tackling style shifts between two main types. Williams loves to drop the hammer and deliver crushing blows with his shoulder, but he also often comes to balance as a tackler and wraps up. He gives up yards after contact when he opts for the latter style because of his frame and limited lower body strength. Ball carriers drag him for extra yards, and some of his attempts to land tone-setting hits misfire. Williams works off blocks well because of his length, but there’s still room for his hands to be more violent and urgent when shedding blockers. The Florida native suffers from some tightness in his lower body that impacts his agility. His motor runs hot and cold as he’ll sometimes jog in pursuit or back up to avoid blockers instead of establishing leverage. Williams’ physical limitations are his greatest flaws as a prospect. He doesn’t have ideal foot speed, long speed, acceleration, stop-start agility, or recovery speed, and his closing burst appears average. The former four-star recruit gets grabby in man coverage and isn’t suited for playing with his back to the quarterback. He lacks the recovery speed to get back into routes when beaten early in the play near the line of scrimmage. Williams and teammate Kamren Kinchens are occasionally caught flat-footed in the secondary, leading to him being out-leveraged on vertical routes. Eye candy in the backfield draws Williams downhill. Offensive playmakers erase his pursuit angles because he lacks the speed to match them. Williams struggles to tackle agile playmakers in space.

Overall, Williams has unique size and a physical playstyle that will endear him to NFL teams looking for a change of pace at safety. His build needs to be evaluated in-person to determine its exact physical capabilities and limitations, considering Williams already doesn’t fit the mold of a modern NFL safety. His total physical and coverage profiles likely cause him to drop to the middle of Day Three.

Role & Scheme Fit: Strong safety in a Cover 4 heavy scheme, converted linebacker

Round Projection: Mid Fifth to Early Sixth

Size: 6043, 230 lbs. (Senior Bowl)

Submitted: 01-11-24