Titans draft Hurricanes’ Williams in the seventh round, but position in NFL is uncertain

From tragedy in his childhood to triumph in his teenage years and eventually stardom with the hometown Miami Hurricanes, James Williams officially turned his dream into a reality on Saturday when he was picked on the third day of the 2024 NFL Draft.

The Tennessee Titans selected Williams with the No. 22 pick of the seventh round — No. 242 overall — and now will try to figure out what exactly they want to do with the always-tantalizing, still-unpolished 6-foot-4, 231-pound athlete.

Williams started 30 games at safety for Miami across his three seasons in Coral Gables, but his future might finally be at linebacker in the NFL, with a frame more like an edge rusher’s than a defensive back’s.

Williams has been a known commodity in South Florida for close to a decade because of his prodigious physical traits and his ability to always play in the secondary at his size. After turning heads and drawing comparisons to legendary safety Sean Taylor as a freshman at Monsignor Pace, Williams transferred to Plantation American Heritage for his sophomore season and was a first-team All-Broward County selection, according to the Miami Herald, for the rest of high school. Williams transferred to Davie Western for his junior year before returning to American Heritage for his senior season, where he got to play for former coach Patrick Surtain, who’s now the defensive backs coach at Florida State, and won an elusive state title. He signed with the Hurricanes as one of their twin prizes in their Class of 2021 alongside defensive tackle Leonard Taylor — they were both top-15 players in the 2021 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings — and then spent three seasons playing for his favorite team.

As a freshman at Miami, Williams started seven games and was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference honorable mention, then he kept improving as he shifted into more of a hybrid linebacker-safety role as he got older, culminating with 73 tackles, two forced fumbles, six passes defended and an interception last year.

As much as his football career has been charmed, Williams did not face an easy road to this point. When he was just 5, Williams watched his father shoot and kill his mother, which left him to be raised by grandmother Ira Williams in Miami Gardens. She was the one who urged him to try playing football, who sat next to him when signed with the Hurricanes back in 2020 who helped inspire him to make it to the NFL.

The wait to hear his name called lasted longer than he might have expected just a few months ago, but Williams is still headed to the NFL.