The Arizona Cardinals have a budding star on their hands in the cornerback room in young CB Garrett Williams, and those around the NFL are beginning to take notice.

Each year, Pro Football Focus compiles a lengthy list of the top 101 players in the NFL, according to their performance the prior season. So far, Cardinals running back James Conner has already been listed at #81 for his excellent year on the ground as the driving force of the Cardinals’ offense.

Williams is the next Cardinal on the list, coming in as the 73rd-best player in the league.

PFF’s explanation for their ranking of Williams goes as follows:

“Williams emerged as one of the NFL’s best slot cornerbacks this season. His 82.0 overall grade tied him with Trent McDuffie for third among all cornerbacks. He intercepted two passes while breaking up six others. Williams also improved his tackling as the season progressed. After missing seven tackles in the Cardinals’ first seven games, he missed just two in the final 10 games.”

Certainly, Williams graded out exceptionally well according to PFF’s own grading system, but he was an incredibly valuable member of Arizona’s young, developing secondary.

Despite beginning his tenure in the desert recovering from a torn ACL suffered in college, Williams immediately stepped into a role as one of the most consistently excellent defensive backs on the team, and has plenty of ceiling left to reach.

In 2024, he played 16 games, and allowed only a 56.5% completion rate to opposing quarterbacks. He surrendered just 329 yards through the air and knocked away nine passes while picking off two.

He allowed only a 73.9 passer rating when targeted, and was awarded an 83.7 coverage grade by PFF. That grade was good enough to rank him third among all NFL corners behind only McDuffie and Denver’s Patrick Surtain II, an impressive feat for a 23-year-old in his first full season’s worth of action.

Williams was a huge asset to the Cardinals defensively in 2024, and looks to run that back again in the coming year. Though he does primarily play in the slot, Williams does have some versatility, and is an extremely athletic, intelligent young player with good ball skills.

With Williams, a developing Max Melton, and some improvement down the stretch by veteran Sean Murphy-Bunting, with names like Starling Thomas V and Ke’Trel Clark waiting in the wings, the Cardinals could soon sport one of the best cornerback groups in the NFL.