Green Bay Packers safety Evan Williams played a season-high 78 snaps in Sunday’s win against the Los Angeles Rams. In fact, that was more snaps than he played in the first four games combined.
For the first month of the season, Williams primarily served as the third safety behind Xavier McKinney and Javon Bullard. However, Green Bay decided to shuffle its secondary in Week 5, allowing the rookie fourth-rounder to take on a larger role on defense.
Williams made the most of the opportunity, recording a team-leading 10 tackles and breaking up two passes, including one on a final fourth-down attempt, to secure the win. .
“Evan is a very smart guy as well. He’s instinctive and has a talent for football,” Matt LaFleur said. “He made some key plays today on some key downs, third down, fourth down, and was able to protect some passes. I think Evan will continue to get better and better. Masu.”
It was a highly anticipated performance for Packers fans who had heard a lot about Williams’ ball skills and playmaking during training camp. He finally got a chance to show them off against the Rams.
It may not be obvious yet, but in this week’s film review, we’re going to break down some of Williams’ best plays in Los Angeles. Let’s get started.
Many from Oregon believed that Williams (#33) was the best choice as a box safety in the NFL. But he certainly looks comfortable in this Cover 3 deep safety look. Williams uses a smooth backpedal to create depth and open his hips for Z receivers running vertically. He then flips his hips as the receiver crosses his face. Williams, aware that his player is being targeted, does a solid job of penetrating on routes and causing chaos at the catch point. Overall, he showed pretty good technique on this rep.
Williams is a very aware run defender, as he shows off here. Notice how he triggers as soon as the tight end gets going on this toss play. Williams attacks with speed downhill while maintaining leverage, and also takes on blocks to help with tackles. LaFleur said Williams is smart and intuitive, and you can certainly see his processing ability come into play here.
Here we get a good look at Williams’ closing speed and ability to tackle in space. The Packers run a zone blitz and Williams drops underneath. He had great awareness to pick up wide receivers running into the flat, sprinted toward the ball, and made a good tackle in front of the line for a gain.
The Rams made quite a profit on this play, but it’s still a great example of Williams’ type of player. He clearly isn’t afraid to be physical, as you see him booming down on tight ends trying to block running backs. As you can see, Williams is tough, competitive, and plays until the whistle blows. He’s kind of a throwback strong safety who brings a tough mindset when he’s on the field and complements Xavier McKinney’s ball-hawking nicely.
This was the play that clinched the victory for Green Bay. Los Angeles got the ball back with less than three minutes remaining and attempted to score a touchdown and take the lead. They moved the ball into the Packers’ territory, but with just over a minute left, it was a do-or-die situation with fourth and fifth. The Rams attempted to cause havoc in Green Bay’s defense by running a trail concept from a bunch formation. Fortunately, the Packers’ defenders have taken responsibility for this concept well. The blitz forces Matthew Stafford to make a hasty throw, so he tries to get the ball to tight end Colby Parkinson, who is running a trail route, but Williams’ excellent coverage forces him to make an incompletion. It was a concerted effort from Williams and the defense to get the stop when it was needed most.
conclusion
At the end of the day, Green Bay has to be happy with Williams’ performance from Sunday, but it’s hard to say what that means for his role going forward. The Packers will continue to use Bullard, and McKinney, who had a historic five-games career with five interceptions and played 100 percent of the defensive snaps, isn’t going anywhere. They experimented with using Bullard at the nickel position in Week 5, but he could return to Keyshawn Nixon’s role once Jaire Alexander returns from injury. Not everyone can play as well as they would like, but having talented players in the secondary is a good problem to have. Williams should certainly be given more chances, but his number of snaps will depend on the game plan depending on the opponent.