Mitch: I don't think the Cards drafted Williams with an eye toward starting him right away. We had loaded our roster with other corners, and the FO probably felt they could roll the dice on drafting an inexperiencd high upside player who'd possibly star for us a couple of years from now.
Unfortunately the CB room suffered a rash of injuries and the FO's risky move to start Williams didn't work out.
That doesn't mean that Brandon won't outgrow his raw-ness & develop into a quality starter down the road. Nor does it mean that the Card FO did the wrong thing by drafting him and then prematurely forcing him into action. All it means is that the percentage didn't pay off (so far) this time.
Jeff---
I don't have a problem with the player, I have a problem with taking him in the 3rd round when there were some better and far more experienced CBs available,
For example:
1. The Ravens took Tavon Young from Temple in the 4th round and he wound up starting 11 games and was good.
2. The Panthers took Daryl Worley of West Virginia in the 3rd round after the Cardinals took Williams. Worley fits the Cardinals' style very well. He started 11 games for the Panthers.
3. The Cowboys got 9 good starts from 6th rounder Anthony Brown of Purdue who i thought played very well at the Senior Bowl.
4. The 49ers took Rashard Robinson of LSU in the 4th round and he emerged as a good starter in 6 games.
Here's the thing too, Jeff. The Cardinals were going into 2016 with Justin Bethel as the starter at RCB, after he really struggled down the stretch as a fill-in starter in 2015. They didn't have the luxury of taking a project CB in the 3rd round.