Darious Williams

Darious Williams (born March 15, 1994) is an American football cornerback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UAB.

Darious Williams
No. 31 – Los Angeles Rams
Position:Cornerback
Personal information
Born: (1994-03-15) March 15, 1994
Jacksonville, Florida
Height:5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight:187 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school:Creekside (St. Johns, Florida)
College:UAB
Undrafted:2018
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Total tackles:59
Fumble recoveries:1
Pass deflections:18
Interceptions:6
Touchdowns:1
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early life and high school

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.[1]

College career

Williams played one season at D-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.[2] 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 the school brought back the program in June 2015, turning down several offers to transfer.[1]

Over the course of two seasons with the Blazers, Williams played in 25 games (18 starts), recording 73 tackles, 26 passes defenced and 6 interceptions (two returned for a touchdown). He was named first-team All-Conference USA and named a first-team All-American by Pro Football Focus during for the 2017 season after making 50 tackles with a conference leading 15 passes broken up and five interceptions (fourth in the nation).[3]

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

Williams signed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2018.[3] He made his NFL debut on September 13, 2018 against the Cincinnati Bengals, playing on special teams.[4] He was waived by the Ravens on October 6, 2018.[5]

Los Angeles Rams

On October 8, 2018, Williams was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Rams.[6] He remained on the Rams roster for the rest of the 2018, appearing in one game. Williams made the Rams 53-man roster out of training camp the next season. He scored his first NFL touchdown on October 20, 2019 against the Atlanta Falcons, recovering a fumble in the end zone on a punt return. The game was also the first start of his career at cornerback.[7] Williams recorded his first career interception, picking off a tipped pass by Jimmy Garoppolo, on December 21, 2019 in his second career start against the San Francisco 49ers.[8] In the following week's game against the Arizona Cardinals, Williams intercepted a pass thrown by Kyler Murray during the 31–24 win.[9] Williams played in 14 games during the 2019 season, starting three and finishing the year with 15 tackles, four passes defended, two interceptions and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.[10]

In Week 2 of the 2020 season against the Philadelphia Eagles, Williams recorded his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by Carson Wentz during the 37–19 win.[11] In Week 4 against the New York Giants, Williams recorded an interception off a pass thrown by Daniel Jones late in the fourth quarter to secure a 17–9 Rams’ win.[12] In Week 10 against the Seattle Seahawks he picked off Russell Wilson twice and also broke up a third pass in the end zone.[13]

In the Wild Card Round of the playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks, Williams intercepted another pass thrown by Russell Wilson and returned it for a 42 yard touchdown during the 30–20 win.[14]

References
  1. Frenette, Gene (October 24, 2020). "L.A. Story: NFL journey of Rams' Darious Williams would make a good Hollywood movie". Florida Times-Union. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  2. Chassen, Alexis (April 7, 2018). "Darious Williams is a top prospect out of UAB that nobody is talking about". SBNation.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  3. "UNDRAFTED ROOKIE FREE AGENTS" (PDF). Baltimore Ravens Media Guide. www.ravenspr.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  4. "Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals - September 13th, 2018-Snap counts". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  5. Brown, Clifton (October 6, 2018). "Jimmy Smith Added to 53-Man Roster, Darious Williams Released". BaltimoreRavens.com.
  6. Simmons, Myles (October 8, 2018). "Rams Awarded DB Darious Williams off Waivers". TheRams.com.
  7. Jackson, Stu (October 20, 2019). "Game Recap: Rams snap 3-game losing streak with 37-10 win over Falcons". TheRams.com.
  8. DaSilva, Cameron (December 22, 2019). "Rams' Week 16 studs and duds: Donald and Fowler shine, Rapp struggles". Rams Wire. USA Today. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  9. "Rams say goodbye to Coliseum with 31-24 win over Cardinals". www.espn.com. Associated Press. December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  10. "Rams' Darious Williams: Ends season with starting duties". CBSSports.com. January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  11. "Los Angeles Rams at Philadelphia Eagles - September 20th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  12. "New York Giants at Los Angeles Rams - October 4th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  13. "Darious Williams grabs Seahawks' attention with two INTs". Los Angeles Times. November 15, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  14. "Wild Card - Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks - January 9th, 2021". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
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