Film room: Patriots second-round draft pick Joejuan Williams is a smart and physical cornerback

Cornerback was arguably the deepest position on the New England Patriots’ roster heading into the 2019 NFL draft. Led by a top-four consisting of All-Pro Stephon Gilmore as well as Jason McCourty, J.C. Jackson and Jonathan Jones, the personnel group combined playmaking ability, experience, and developmental upside — a that helped the Patriots field one of the best pass defenses in all of football last year.

And yet, the team invested in the position in the draft: with the 45th overall selection, the reigning Super Bowl champions picked Vanderbilt cornerback Joejuan Williams — the second straight year that New England invested in the position in round two after Florida’s Duke Dawson was picked 56th overall in 2018. Just like Dawson, Williams will have to fight for playing time on a deep and talented group this year.

What should help him in this battle is his unique physical build: at almost 6’4, Williams is the tallest of the Patriots’ cornerbacks and tailor-made to match up with outside receivers and tight ends. With that in mind, let’s take a look at his film to find out exactly what he brings to the table and how New England could harness his talents.

Physicality

Williams sure knows how to use his size to play successful coverage, and combines it with the right mentality: he is a physical defender not afraid to lay down a hit, get his hands dirty in run support, or get in receivers’ faces in press-man coverage. The latter is perfectly illustrated on the following play against Ole Miss:

Williams is patient and lets his assignment commit to a route before engaging, but once that happens it is essentially game over: the defender impedes the receiver’s progress towards the end zone by placing his hands on the shoulder pads and not letting go again. Simultaneously, he also has his eyes at the quarterback to make a potential play on the football should it be thrown his way — which it ultimately is in a low-percentage attempt the cornerback is able to break up.

Williams’ physicality also can be seen when it comes to his tackling. While is technique is not always consistent, his approach is: Williams wants to lay the wood.

On this particular play, he gives a up a bit too much cushion allowing Georgia wide receiver and fellow 2019 draftee Riley Ridley to make the grab. However, Williams is able to bring himself in position again and makes a statement by taking down the pass catcher — once again displaying the physical edge with which he approaches playing the game.

Physicality is a good attribute to have, but rather useless if you don’t know how to properly use it. Luckily for the Patriots, Williams does: he knows when to let go of his man and how to balance the fine line between playing in a physical way and committing penalties for holding or unnecessary roughness. This, in turn, should help him defend against bigger-framed receivers at the next level.

Football IQ

Williams’ energetic mentality is only one reason for his success at Vanderbilt and by extension status as a day-two draft pick: he also is an intelligent defender capable of reading plays quickly and reacting to them appropriately.

On this play against Ole Miss, Williams — aligning on the near-side boundary — reads the route concept perfectly and does not allow the outside receiver to carry him too far up the field. This, in turn, allows him to play the out-route underneath and eventually come in to make a play on the ball. If not for the defender’s awareness, the offense would likely have turned this 2nd and 9 situation into a new set of downs.

The following play is another example of Williams being able to react to the play properly and break up a pass:

Playing off-man coverage, he passes his man off to the strong-side safety in Vanderbilt’s high-low coverage concept. However, he subsequently stays in position to defend the pass thrown his way: this in combination with him reading the quarterback and his length allows Williams to successfully get his hands on the football, forcing an incomplete pass — a perfect illustration of the second-round pick’s skill set.

Athleticism

For a player his size, Williams brings a solid athletic skill set to the table even though his 4.64 40-yard dash at the combine — the third slowest among cornerbacks — can be seen as a red flag. On the field, however, he regularly displays good closing speed when out of position:

Williams again starts the play as an off-man defender before playing a trail-technique. His assignment is not running a deep pattern towards the goal post, however, which means that the defender will need to put his foot in the ground and re-direct against the curl route. Williams is able to do that and in turn tackle the targeted receiver and pop the football loose.

Being able to do that is a result of Williams’ rare blend of hip flexibility, quickness and body control for a player his size. All of this is on display on the following play against Georgia:

Playing one-on-one man coverage, the Commodores’ defender is quickly able to re-route after opening the inside against a potential in-breaking route. This allows him to successfully get his hands onto another target on a curl route.

Projecting Williams’ growth in the NFL from his college tape can be difficult, but he certainly has some intriguing athletic skills given his unique size. This should help him transition to the next level and against offensive players that are faster and quicker than those he oftentimes had to square off against in college.

Room for growth

As with every rookie, there is still room for growth when it comes to entering the NFL. The following three plays illustrate areas that Williams and his coaches in New England will have to address to turn him into a starting-caliber cornerback. The first issue is, as mentioned above, his tackling form:

Oftentimes, Williams will wrap up the ball carriers too high making himself susceptible to being shaken off again. The issue, of course, is no major problem and more a question of coaching and experience — and with the Patriots putting a premium on tackling technique, it would not be a surprise to see the rookie get significantly more consistent in this area of his game.

The same has to be said about his press-man technique:

Here, Williams places his jam too far to the outside of the wideout’s frame which allows him to chop the defender’s arm off and get a relatively free release considering the defensive scheme. Furthermore, Williams should have turned his head knowing that wide receiver was running out of room, but he gets too handsy and as a result fails to locate the football in the air. But credit where credit is due: the receiver also made an outstanding catch.

Finally, one of the biggest questions surrounding Williams as he enters the NFL is about his straight-line speed. As mentioned above, he ran only a 4.64 40-yard time at the combine and at the next level, this could become a problem.

Luckily for both Williams and the Patriots, he will likely not be matched up against speedsters all too often: New England has a diverse group of cornerbacks, and speedier options such as Stephon Gilmore and Jonathan Jones will likely be given the assignments against quicker and faster players. Furthermore, the Patriots’ deep-field safeties — Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon; possibly Jones as well — can help out in the case Williams needs to go one-on-one against a faster player.

All in all, the Patriots invested in an intriguing player with plenty of upside. If Williams can clean up his tackling and jamming technique, he should become a serviceable option against tall receivers. It will certainly be interesting to see how New England’s defense will use the rookie in 2019, and how his growth continues beyond this season.