John Dorsey’s 5 best moves as Cleveland Browns general manager
4. Drafting Greedy Williams
The Browns did not have a first round pick in the 2019 draft, but they have Greedy WIlliams, who at times has looked like a first round pick. It’s very early, especially because he has missed several games with a pulled hamstring (hello — what is going on with the Browns’ strength and conditioning coaches).
Nevertheless, Pro Football Focus ranks Williams as the 27th overall cornerback, at least prior to Denver game, which was not a particulrly good game for him. Still ranking 27th in a league with 64 nominal starters and another 32 slot corners, is very good for a rookie.
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He’s only 21 years old with just two full years at Louisiana State University. It has not been that long ago that he learned how to shave. Corners usually get better their first few years in the league, and he should continue to improve from year to year. But he is good enough to start now, and we can expect him to develop in the future.
A big knock in him in college was that he skipped the LSU bowl game in order to avoid the injury risk. However that criticism is blatantly stupid. Of course a man has to take care of his family, and it would be irresponsible to put millions of dollars at risk for a football game that at the end of the day is just a “participation trophy.”
He was exercising common sense to look towards a professional career. Anyway for those teams that look down upon players for avoiding unnecessary multi-million dollar risks, the Cleveland Browns thank you very much, and are quite happy to welcome Greedy Williams to the professional game.
By contrast, the New York Giants took DeAndre Baker in the first round, who has struggled at times this year. It’s not easy to be a rookie cornerback in the NFL.
Having a healthy Denzel Ward in the defensive backfield with Williams is only going to help him. LIkely Ward will cover the other team’s top receiver in man-to-man coverage, giving Williams a better matchup.
So yes, it is still very early, but the Greedy Williams pick looks like a first round caliber player.