Darious Williams
Darious Williams is an American professional football cornerback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. He played college football for the Marietta Pioneers and UAB Blazers. After signing as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens, Williams went on to join the Los Angeles Rams, where he won a championship with the team during Super Bowl LVI.
Early life
Williams was born and grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. He originally attended Bartram Trail High School before transferring to Creekside High School after his freshman year. He played basketball, football and ran track at Creekside.College career
Williams played one season at NCAA Division III Marietta College in Ohio before leaving after the season due to family issues. He then enrolled at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for the spring semester and originally was turned down after a tryout to join the football team as a walk-on. He made the team as a walk-on in 2014 under new head coach Bill Clark and was awarded a scholarship midway through the season. After UAB dropped football after the season, Williams attended Florida State College at Jacksonville and worked as a flower delivery man until UAB brought back the program in June 2015, turning down several offers to transfer.Over the course of two seasons with the Blazers, Williams played in 25 games, recording 73 tackles, 26 passes defenced and 6 interceptions. He was named first-team All-Conference USA and named a first-team All-American by Pro Football Focus during the 2017 season after making 50 tackles with a conference leading 15 passes broken up and five interceptions.
Professional career
Baltimore Ravens
Williams went undrafted in the 2018 NFL draft. On May 4, 2018, the Baltimore Ravens signed Williams to a three–year, $1.71 million contract as an undrafted free agent.Throughout training camp, Williams competed for a roster spot as a backup cornerback against Stanley Jean-Baptiste and Bennett Jackson. Head coach John Harbaugh named Williams a backup cornerback to begin the season and listed him as the seventh cornerback on the depth chart, behind Brandon Carr, Jimmy Smith, Marlon Humphrey, Anthony Averett, Maurice Canady, and Tavon Young.
He was inactive as a healthy scratch as the Ravens defeated the Buffalo Bills 47–3 in their Week 1 home-opener. On September 13, 2018, Williams made his professional regular season debut, but was limited to a single snap on special teams during a 23–34 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals. On October 6, 2018, the Ravens waived Williams in order to add Jimmy Smith to their active roster after following his return from serving his four-game suspension.
Los Angeles Rams (first stint)
2018
On October 8, 2018, the Los Angeles Rams claimed Williams off waivers. Upon his arrival, head coach Sean McVay named him a backup as the sixth cornerback on the depth chart, behind Marcus Peters, Sam Shields, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Troy Hill, and Dominique Hatfield. He remained on the active roster throughout the 2018 NFL season, but was inactive for ten consecutive games as a healthy scratch. In Week 17, he appeared in his first game with the Rams, but was limited to special teams and only had four snaps on defense as the Rams defeated the San Francisco 49ers 48–32. He did not record a stat as a rookie and only appeared in two games throughout the entire season.2019
Throughout his first training camp with the Rams, Williams competed for a roster spot as a backup cornerback against Dominique Hatfield, Kevin Peterson, Donte Deayon, and Ramon Richards. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips named Williams as a backup cornerback as he won the last roster spot as the sixth cornerback on the depth chart. He began the season on the depth chart behind Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Troy Hill, and David Long.He was inactive as a healthy scratch as the Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints 27–9 in Week 2. In Week 3, Williams made his first career tackle on returner Damion Ratley while covering a punt during a 20–13 win at the Cleveland Browns. On October 20, 2019, Williams earned his first career start and made two solo tackles, while also returning a fumble recovery for his first career touchdown during a 37–10 win at the Atlanta Falcons. His touchdown occurred after he recovered a fumble while covering a punt return, after Troy Reeder forced a fumble by punt returner Russell Gage that was recovered in the endzone by Williams for a touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter. He was inactive for three games due to an ankle injury. In Week 15, Williams collected a season-high five combined tackles during a 21–44 loss at the Dallas Cowboys. On December 21, 2019, Williams made two solo tackles, two pass deflections, and had his first career interception after a pass by Jimmy Garoppolo to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders was deflected by Jalen Ramsey as the Rams lost 31–34 at the San Francisco 49ers. The following week, he made three solo tackles, tied his season-high of two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass thrown by Kyler Murray to Larry Fitzgerald during a 31–24 win against the Arizona Cardinals. He finished the 2019 NFL season with 15 combined tackles, four passes defended, two interceptions, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in 14 games and three starts. Pro Football Focus had Williams finished the season with an overall grade of 81.9.
2020
On January 16, 2020, the Rams hired former Denver Broncos' linebackers coach Brandon Staley as their new defensive coordinator, following the retirement of Wade Phillips. Throughout training camp, he competed to be a starting cornerback against Troy Hill, David Long, Nickell Robey-Coleman, and Adonis Alexander. Head coach Sean McVay named Williams a backup cornerback to begin the season and placed him third on the depth chart behind starters Jalen Ramsey and Troy Hill.In Week 4, Williams recorded five combined tackles, two pass deflections, and secured the victory after intercepting a pass by Daniel Jones to wide receiver Damion Ratley at the end of the fourth quarter to secure a 17–9 victory against the New York Giants. On November 15, 2020, Williams had one solo tackle, a season-high three pass deflections, and a career-high two interceptions off passes thrown by Russell Wilson during a 23–16 victory against the Seattle Seahawks. In Week 16, he collected a season-high six combined tackles and broke up a pass as the Rams lost 9–20 at the Seattle Seahawks. He finished the season with 44 combined tackles, 13 pass deflections, and four interceptions in 16 games and 10 starts. He earned an overall grade of 81.5 from Pro Football Focus in 2020.
The Los Angeles Rams finished the 2020 NFL season second in the NFC West with a 10–6 record, clinching a playoff berth. On January 9, 2021, Williams started in his first career playoff game and made four combined tackles, made a pass deflection, and returned an interception on a pass thrown by Russell Wilson to wide receiver D. K. Metcalf for a 42-yard touchdown during a 30–20 win at the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Wild-Card Game. The following week, he made three solo tackles and two pass deflections as the Rams were eliminated from the playoffs after a 18–32 loss at the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round.
2021
On January 21, 2021, the Rams announced their decision to hire Atlanta Falcons' defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as their defensive coordinator after Brandon Stanley became the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.On March 15, 2021, the Rams placed a first-round restricted free agent tender on Williams. On April 21, 2021, Williams officially signed his restricted free agent tender, agreeing to a one–year, $4.76 million contract. During training camp, he competed against David Long to be the No. 2 starting cornerback following the departure of Troy Hill. Head coach Sean McVay named Williams and Jalen Ramsey the starting cornerbacks to begin the season.
On October 7, 2021, Williams recorded four combined tackles before exiting in the fourth quarter of a 26–17 win at the Seattle Seahawks after suffering and injury after an accidental collision with teammate Taylor Rapp. On October 12, 2021, the Rams officially placed him on injured reserve due to an ankle injury. On November 6, 2021, the Rams added him back to the active roster after he was inactive for three games. In Week 12, he collected a season-high seven solo tackles and made a pass deflection during a 28–36 loss at the Green Bay Packers. On December 13, 2021, Williams made six solo tackles and a season-high three pass deflections during a 30–23 victory at the Arizona Cardinals. He finished the season with a total of 71 combined tackles and nine pass deflections in 14 games and 13 starts. He received an overall grade of 59.0 from Pro Football Focus in 2021.
The Los Angeles Rams finished the 2021 NFL season a top the NFC West with a 12–5 record to clinch a playoff berth. The Rams defeated the Arizona Cardinals 34–11 in the NFC Wild-card Game and won 30–27 in the Divisional Round at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On January 30, 2022, he started in the NFC Championship Game and made four combined tackles and a pass deflection as the Rams defeated the San Francisco 49ers 20–17 to advance to the Super Bowl. On February 13, 2022, Williams started in Super Bowl LVI and recorded eight combined tackles and had one pass deflection as the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23–20. Williams earned the first Super Bowl ring of his career.
Jacksonville Jaguars
2022
On March 16, 2022, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Williams to a three–year, $30.00 million contract that also included $18.00 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.50 million. He entered training camp slated as the starting nickelback under defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell. Head coach Doug Pederson named him the starting nickelback and listed him as the third cornerback on the depth chart to begin the season, behind starters Tyson Campbell and Shaquill Griffin.Williams was named the No. 2 starting cornerback heading into Week 7 after Shaquill Griffin suffered a back injury and was subsequently placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the season. On October 23, 2022, Williams made eight combined tackles and a season-high three pass deflections during a 17–23 loss at the New York Giants. On Week 18, he collected a season-high eight combined tackles and broke up a pass as the Jaguars defeated the Tennessee Titans 20–16. He finished the season with 53 combined tackles and 16 pass deflections in 17 games and 12 starts.