Arizona Cardinals should admit that cornerback was mistake

The Arizona Cardinals need to come to the conclusion that Brandon Williams is not a National Football League-caliber cornerback

It’s about time that the Arizona Cardinals took the blinders off. For the past three offseasons, their front office has been under the impression that Brandon Williams can play cornerback in the NFL. The former third-round pick’s performance on the field this past weekend told a much different story, however.

Mixed into the Cardinals 24-17 preseason win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night was a horrendous outing by Williams. The over-matched corner gave up way too many completions, some of which were hauled in by the Chargers backup receivers. Williams even chipped in two penalties for good measure, both of which occurred on a crucial drive in the fourth quarter.

The 25-year old’s inability to defend the league’s wideouts was apparent early on in his career. Williams was handed a starting job in 2016, his rookie campaign, but was benched after just one regular-season contest. The Texas A&M University product has been relegated to mostly special teams play ever since, and has contributed almost nothing as a defensive back.

Williams was drafted with the 92nd-overall pick of the ’16 draft, despite the fact that he had played cornerback for just one year in college. The 6’0″, 200 pounder had been a running back, before being switched to the defensive side of the ball for his senior campaign.

The Cardinals’ new coaching staff had said good things about Williams during this offseason’s spring practices. There was even talk of him being given another opportunity to start in 2018. Tramon Williams, who held down the fort in 2017, signed a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers back in March, leaving the number-two cover guy job wide open.

In May, however, Arizona general manager Steve Keim orchestrated a trade for Jamar Taylor, a veteran from the Cleveland Browns. A sixth-round draft pick was given up as compensation, and the 27-year old is the current favorite to line up opposite Patrick Peterson in the Cards’ secondary this fall.

Following the disaster this past Saturday night, it seems that Williams may have to battle to remain with the club in ’18. Cardinals’ management has been extremely patient with the 25-year old, but he appears to be regressing badly. Perhaps it’s time that Keim and company admit that Williams was a mistake, and hand his roster spot over to someone more deserving.