One of the Green Bay Packers’ unsung heroes this year has been Tramon Williams who has put together a sneaky good season.
In Tramon Williams’ first season back with the Green Bay Packers in 2018, I believe we could best sum it up with one word – chaotic.
With Kevin King battling injuries and Josh Jackson struggling in coverage, we saw Williams play 360 snaps out-wide and another 190 in the slot. Not to mention that the safety position was a complete mess, which led to Williams filling in there during the second half of the season where he would take another 383 snaps, along with an additional 122 down in the box.
However, this season Williams has had much more continuity as he has been the Green Bay Packers’ primary slot corner while Jaire Alexander and King lock down the outside. Although being quick and athletic are keys to being a successful slot corner in the NFL, it also takes a high football IQ, which defensive coordinator Mike Pettine attributes to Williams’ success at the position:
“The elite nickels, slot corners in the league are the ones that have a high football intellect, they have some savvy there,” Pettine said Monday. “There’s a lot more thinking involved in nickel than there is playing outside, and this is a guy who’s seen it all. He understands how to play with leverage, he understands how to disguise. He just has that wealth of experience.”
This season when targeted, opposing quarterbacks have a passer rating of just 67.3 and Williams is allowing only 9.1 yards per reception with just one touchdown given up. And recently we saw Williams come away with his first interception since returning to the Packers in a pivotal moment of the game as Carolina was threatening to score in the red zone.
Meanwhile, Williams also has a coverage grade through 10 weeks of 80.3 according to Pro Football Focus which is tied for the 12th best among all cornerbacks in 2019. And Andy Herman of The Packer Report – who grades every Packer player on every snap for the entire season – has graded Williams as the second best cornerback on the team just behind Alexander and the sixth best defensive player overall.
Although on the defensive side of the ball it has been Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith who have stolen the show – and deservedly so – Tramon Williams’ contributions and stellar play as the slot corner shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Via: dairylandexpress.com