With a unique blend of size and athleticism, the star from south Florida has plenty of intriguing tools that make him a desirable NFL prospect. 

In today’s NFL, versatility is all the rage on both sides of the ball. The more things a player can do at a high level, the more valuable they can be to a team. If paired with a coordinator who knows how to maximize the talents of their players, a Swiss Army knife gets even sharper. 

Although Miami (FL) linebacker/safety James Williams is still early in his development, he certainly has the foundation to be one of those in the NFL. 

The true junior was one of many beneficiaries of the new format at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, which allowed draft-eligible juniors to compete for the first time in the event’s 74-year history. In front of NFL decision-makers, Williams was able to get positionally mobile in Mobile, Alabama.

Measuring in at 6’4”, 230 pounds this past week, Williams has the size to play defensive end, yet has played at linebacker and safety for his entire football career. On the official Senior Bowl roster, he’s listed as an inside linebacker, and he took plenty of reps there in Alabama. However, he played safety for most of his time at Miami – after all, that’s where he’s listed on UM’sofficial team site, ESPN and 247Sports. 

Growing up in south Florida, Williams has been an imposing physical presence since his early days of football, which helped him develop an identity on the field.

“I’ve always been one of the bigger guys, so I always had to bring the intensity and aggressiveness,” Williams said. “That’s why I feel like I can be whoever {NFL teams} want me to be.”

He mentioned Sean Taylor as a football idol, which makes sense for a couple of reasons. Taylor grew up in Florida City, Fl.,less than a 90-minute drive from Opa Locka, Williams’ hometown, and had a legendary two-year career at Miami. 

The second is that Taylor and Williams play similar styles of football. Taylor was a supersized defensive back whose extensive highlight reel is filled with crushing hits and stunningly sharp football instincts. While Taylor’s impact will be nearly impossible to replicate for any future defensive player in college football, Williams still found strong similarities between his game and Taylor’s.  

“That’s the person I’ve always modeled my game after,” Williams said. “”We got the same body…we come around ready to hit. Our speed, our athleticism, ball skills, our IQ of the game…the things that he had, I saw in my game.”

As a Hurricane, Williams wasn’t just able to move around formations; he had to. In three years at Miami, Williams was under the tutelage of three different defensive play callers – Manny Diaz in 2021, Kevin Steele in 2022 and Lance Guidry last season. 

Despite enduring a lot of coaching turnover in college, Williams was able to remain steady in large part due to his versatility. 

“My role was just to be myself,” Williams said. 

That role allowed Williams to improve every season in Coral Gables. He led the Hurricanes with two interceptions in his freshman season, and followed that up by finishing second on his team in total tackles (58) and tied for second in passes defended (6). This past season was his best one yet from a statistical standpoint; he tied with linebacker Frances Mauigoa for the team lead in solo tackles (48) and tied with safety and fellow future pro Kam Kinchens in passes defended (5). He also registered a coverage grade of 84.7 according to PFF, which was the highest on the team. Like Taylor, Williams put together his own highlight reel of huge hits and jumped routes that led to explosive defensive plays. 

While he primarily played safety at UM, Williams didn’t seem preferential towards a specific position when looking ahead to the NFL.   

“I’m willing to do whatever,” Williams told me on Wednesday. “I just want to play ball.”

The former part of the quote is what stands out here. Not only is the unique-bodied Williams entering an NFL that’s embraced tweeners as of late, Williams seems genuinely willing to to be moved around a defensive alignment. Especially in a league with plenty of defensive coordinators whose schemes ask their players to wear a lot of different hats, Williams has proven he can do just that, and he proved it this week at the Senior Bowl.

Now, the week wasn’t totally glamorous for Williams. Playing inside linebacker, he struggled a bit in coverage, which included what looked like a blown assignment that led to a touchdown during Thursday’s practice session. He also got his ankles broken by Missouri running back Cody Schrader in a one-on-one rep during Tuesday’s practice that made the rounds on social media. 

But Williams also did plenty of good. Even though the following rep resulted in a catch for Florida State tight end Jaheim Bell, Williams nearly tracked him down all the way from the box. 

Besides, professional drafts focus more on projection versus production. While Williams is far from a perfect prospect, he offered both quality projection and solid production during his time at Miami. As a self-described “fein for the ball”, he compared himself to another giant DB that’s currently a tantalizing, do-it-all playmaker for the Baltimore Ravens. 

“I feel like I’m a bigger-bodied Kyle Hamilton,” Williams said. “He does an amazing job. I feel like I could do that. I’m just a bigger body, a bigger person than him.”

Although he was already highly-touted coming out of high school – Williams was the top-ranked safety in the class of 2021 – Williams feels like he’s made significant strides with not just his on-field performance, but what he does off the field to bolster what he does on it.

“{In} 2020, I wasn’t really focused on my body, taking care of my body,” Williams said. “This James now is really focused on his body. Yoga, stretching, ice cold tubs, doing the small things that help you last longer.”

Williams also spoke of his emotional maturation as well, which was largely forged through heart-wrenching defeats. Over the past couple of seasons, Miami has lost games that were very emotionally taxing. In 2022, they were upset by Middle Tennessee State, committed eight turnovers in a 24-point loss to Duke and got stomped by Florida State on national television. This past season, there was the late-game meltdown against Georgia Tech and one-possession losses against Florida State and Louisville, who were both ranked in the top ten at the time. Both seasons (including 2021) also fell way short of expectations, as UM has won just 19 games over the past three seasons. 

Despite the immense struggles, Williams has learned to avoid dwelling on missteps.

“You’ve just got to accept the game for what it is,” Williams said. “I can’t be 11 people out there trying to make every play. I’ve just got to do my job and make sure my teammate does his job. We’ll all be successful together.”

Williams is currently projected to be taken between the third and fourth round of the NFL Draft. While there’s still plenty of time for his stock to move up, he looks like a surefire draft pick at the moment.

Regardless of where he gets taken, Williams is thankful for everyone that contributed to his success leading up to this point and is eager to show that he not only belongs in the NFL, but that he can be immediately impactful, just like he was at Miami. 

“Everybody at the University of Miami, they helped me get to this spot,” Williams said. “They pushed me to be the best version of James.”