Despite his freefall, Williams may have landed softly

By Darrell Laurant  |   Monday, May 01, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Atlanta Falcons
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Jimmy Williams knows what the draft experts were saying about him.

"Lacks discipline."

"Inconsistent."

"Tends to give other teams bulletin board material."

It didn't help that he was thrown out of Virginia Tech's Gator Bowl victory
over Louisville for making contact with a referee while arguing a pass
interference call.

Or that he didn't run a 40-yard dash at Tech's Pro Day because "I wasn't
happy with my weight."

These were among the factors that caused Williams to fall to No. 37 on the
first day of the draft last Saturday, despite his size (6-2, 213),
All-America credentials and speed (4.41). Perhaps that's what triggered the
first sentence in his "official" post-draft interview on the Atlanta
Falcons' Website.

"My role is to go to Atlanta, keep my mouth shut and do what they tell me to
do," Williams said.

It's highly probable that the Atlanta Falcons consulted with one of Williams'
hometown buddies before making Williams their first pick. Williams and
DeAngelo Hall grew up together in Hampton, VA, before starring for the Hokies, and Hall was All-Pro as a Falcons' cornerback last season.

"I never visited the team's facilities (in Atlanta) before the draft,"
Williams said, "but I went to DeAngelo's house."

Getting Williams could turn out to be a huge break for the Falcons, as well.
Having traded away their first round pick, they were initially looking at
waiting until No. 45 before jumping into the draft pool. Then they made a
trade with the Green Bay Packers to move up to where Williams was still available.

Atlanta had been shaky in the secondary, but with the addition of Lawyer
Milloy and Chris Crocker as free agents and the selection of Williams, that
has now become a strength.

Williams had 22 tackles for the Virginia Tech Hokies last year and only one interception, but
opponents consistently and obviously worked away from his area, based on his
reputation (five interceptions in 2004, one returned for a touchdown against
Maryland).

Asked how he weathered the first round of the draft without being picked,
Williams said: "I felt like I was letting my family down. So I left after
the 22nd pick and went into the bathroom to pray."

The "character issues" surrounding Williams remain unanswered. But he's
obviously still a character.

Get more Jimmy Williams insight at Realfootball365.com
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