Draft Buzz: Sitting down with Oklahoma State, CB Rodarius Williams

The Big-12 doesn’t play defense, you seem to shy away from tackling, and your little brother plays for the Cleveland Browns, do you feel any pressure to succeed? For Oklahoma State, CB Rodarius Williams, these are things he gets asked weekly, and sitting down with Williams, he made it clear quickly, he does not care about any of it.

“No corner in the nation has helped himself more in 2020, than OK State CB, Rodarius Williams. Never looks panicked and finishing more consistently than on his junior tape.”

These are the words of Executive Director Jim Nagy, of the Senior bowl. Right after announcing that the 6-foot Senior, from Shreveport, LA, would be playing in this year’s Senior Bowl. Perhaps the best way to word, the young rising star, and his career. After hearing it all, from his school not being known for defense, to the pressure he

“Should” be feeling after his younger brother Greedy Williams, was drafted to the Browns. I sat down with the ascending Corner and asked him about these things, and a few others. “Yeah, you hear it all the time, about how we don’t play defense, in the big-12, but it isn’t true. I am not concerned with it really, I just go out there and play my game. If you look at my team, the defense, in particular, you will see a team filled with talent. It’s like night and day, who we were as a team last year, to who we are now. What we put out on the field every game. We make offenses work to get yards, we make them work to score on us. I don’t like the talk, that we don’t play defense, cause we go out and punch you in the mouth every week.”

Continuing on, Williams, spoke about the pressures of his younger brother being in the league?

“I more so worry about myself, I have to go out and make plays, I have to get better every day, every off-season. My brother playing in the league is a blessing for him, and for my family. But that’s his game, that’s him playing in Cleveland, I don’t worry about that. I support my brother, and I love to watch him play, but as far as pressure, I never feel it. I get that question all the time, I really do, and I get it. I get why you guys ask me that, but him making it big, doesn’t put any pressure on me. I just focus on what I can handle, on what I can control myself. I love him and I’m proud of his success, but I have to focus on what I am doing.”

Over the past week, a big week for Williams has shown a spark from media outlets alike, and more importantly an invite to this year’s Senior Bowl. I asked him how he dealt with the oncoming media hype, and what it was like to be invited to play in the biggest,all-star game?

“Honestly I don’t care for all that really. I like to stay low-key anyway, so when I get the attention I get, I don’t pay attention to it. I honestly know that at any time the story could be something else, so I just worry about myself, and what I am doing. So while it’s cool, it’s a nice thing and all that, I am not worried about it. Like I said earlier, I can only focus on things I can control. Other than that I don’t pay it no mind really. ” Moving forward he touched on his invite to the Senior Bowl and what it meant for his career? “Man that’s a blessing really, that’s them showing me that all the hard work I put in during the offseason, and during the season, is paying off. I have a long ways to go, but I know I taking the right path to get to it. When I got the invite, I was humbled, I was really humbled. I know now I get a chance to take on the best of the best. I get to play against first-round talent or guys that are considered tops in the league. I love that, I love that I get to show what I can do against these guys. Like you said earlier the Big-12 gets talked about like they don’t play defense, but this gives me a chance to show I can play. I play defense, and I can do it with the best.”

Before sitting down with Williams, I knew he was talented. Watching the tape you see a player, who can do it all. He doesn’t shy away from contact, he has a nose for the ball and likes mixing it up with runners. He has the skill set to play in traffic, or be on an island one-on-one. Honestly, you put him outside playing man, and forget about him. That is truly the player he is, you can trust him to the right thing, and to be a playmaker. It wasn’t until I sat down with him, that was the eye-opening things about him. The kid is truly humble, he has intelligence about the game, and mental fortitude, that is rivaled by very little. The way he was not shaken by the recent media attention, was amazing in itself. Adding a talent like Williams, to any team, would be a huge get, and the right step forward, for any franchise.

@JonM_Salter