Joshua Williams Scouting Report: 2022 NFL Draft Prospect Report

Cornerback, Fayetteville St. Broncos #2

Joshua Williams Measurements

6’3” / 197 lbs

40 Time: 4.5 (projected)

Joshua Williams NFL Draft Player Profile

Joshua graduated from Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Before heading to Fayetteville St., Williams would spend a season at Palmetto Prep Academy in Columbia, South Carolina. Palmetto Prep is a post-graduate prep program. Its primary function is to help student athletes earn either the test scores or the college credits needed to earn a scholarship. They’ve helped numerous student athletes earn scholarships, all the way from the FBS level down to Division III and NAIA.

After arriving at Fayetteville St., Joshua quickly earned not only playing time, but a starting role. During his three seasons with the Broncos, he established himself as a lockdown corner. In his career, Williams would play in 27 games, making 75 tackles, with 22 passes defended, and 5 interceptions. Recently, he was invited and accepted an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl. He’s the only Division II player to receive an invite this season.

Joshua Williams Strengths

Size and Speed

You don’t see many defensive backs that stand 6’3”. Also, you don’t see many defensive backs that run as fast as Williams is projected to run. And I’ll say, watching him play I feel like that 4.5 is a solid projection. Williams was easily able to stay with any of the receivers that he was covering. There were even a few times that he outran the receiver on overthrown passes to make the interception. I can’t remember a play in which Joshua wasn’t firmly inserted into the back pocket of whoever he was covering. You add his towering size to his tight coverage, and it’s easy to see how he could shut down an entire half of the field.

Smooth

Williams shows great footwork in coverage. His backpedal is so smooth, that I feel like he could probably beat me in a race even if he was going backwards. Then he easily flips his hips when needed and keeps on going without a hitch. It’s pretty impressive to watch. It even goes into him stopping and going with the receiver. At no point did he ever look like he was struggling. His body just looked like it was on autopilot.

Ball Skills

Joshua does a nice job of playing and tracking the ball in the air. He’s been able to show off his good hands on a few occasions as well over the last couple of seasons. Williams does a nice job of using his length to get around receivers to break up passes without interfering with them. 

Joshua Williams Weaknesses

Jamming

One of the first things I noticed about Joshua was that he tends to bail out quickly at the snap. He doesn’t do a ton of jamming at the line of scrimmage. When you factor in his speed and ability to read the play quickly, you can understand why he doesn’t feel the need to jam. But it’s something that I would like to see more of. The few times I did see it, he looks extremely flat-footed. It wasn’t a jam and then run with the receiver, as much as it was blocking him as if he was pass protecting. I’m honestly surprised that he never got a flag for defensive holding in the games I watched.

Questions About Competition

As with any player that comes from a smaller school, you have to wonder if they can continue their success when stepping up in competition. Luckily for us, we’ll get to see Joshua at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Here, he’ll get the chance to go up against quarterbacks Desmond Ridder, Malik Willis, and Bailey Zappe. Notable wide receivers that have accepted invitations so far include the likes of Romeo Doubs, Jahan Dotson, and Jalen Tolbert. So we’ll quickly be able to tell just how well he stacks up against NFL talent.

Joshua Williams Draft Stock

Williams isn’t a name that has created much draft buzz before or during the season. I remember seeing his name on the Reese’s Senior Bowl watch list prior to the season starting, but that was about it for me personally. If he has a decent showing at the Senior Bowl, you’ll start to hear a little more buzz about him because everyone has a soft spot for the small school guy.

Final Thoughts on Joshua Williams

Williams is definitely one of the more intriguing small school prospects. If I could edit his game film and take away all hints of the school/level he plays at, you might would think you have one of the better prospects in the draft. But unfortunately you can’t ignore the fact that he plays at the Division II level. The good thing is that he dominated his competition, which is the first step for smaller school guys to get real consideration.

Joshua has the makings of a late round gem in the 2022 NFL Draft. For me, I would have no issues taking him in the latter half of Day 3. If he somehow makes it undrafted, he would be the #1 guy I called to try and get signed to my team. It would be a low risk, high reward play at that point. If he shows out at the Senior Bowl, expect him to have a meteoric ride up team’s draft boards.

Joshua Williams Pro Comparison: Richard Sherman

Tall, rangy defender that has good speed and can lock down one side of the field. Obviously Williams still has to prove he can do it against better competition, but the skill set is there.

Joshua Williams Draft Prospect Report / Scouting Report by Brandon Claburn