Bears News: Getting to Know: Kendall Williamson |
You have to give Ryan Poles a ton of credit for how he handled this year's draft. He traded the No. 1 overall pick to grab a legitimate No. 1 WR and acquired additional picks, including a first-rounder for next year. He then trades from No. 9 to No. 10 and acquires additional picks in the process as he is building for the future equally as much as the present.
With the third and final day of the NFL draft winding down, the Bears had one more selection, which came at pick No. 258. Expecting another offensive lineman or maybe even a defensive lineman, the Bears continued to focus on the defensive side of the ball, but it was different from where you expected them to target. Instead, Poles addressed adding additional secondary depth and plucked Stanford Safety Kendall Williamson from the board to make him their final selection of the weekend. Williamson had to wait a long time to hear his name called as he was the second to last pick in this year's draft. Even then, Williamson relishes this opportunity and spoke to the media about what this organization means to him and what he brings to the table. "One thing that excites me the most about the opportunity is just the history of the Chicago Bears defense," Williamson said. "Just being a safety and playing on a defense with such a great history of defensive players is just an amazing opportunity, I feel like for me. I'm so grateful and so thankful for the opportunity." "The type of player that the Bears are getting is a guy who's going to give it his all every single down, every single opportunity, every single chance I get," he said. Anytime you check in at 6-0 and 203 pounds for your measurables at the safety position, people are going to take notice, and many scouts have noticed Williamson and his play. Across his 44 games with the Cardinal, Williamson was a tackling machine as he registered 213 career tackles. 11 came as tackles as a loss while adding 1.5 sacks to his name. When it comes to pass coverage, he has that two, as he deflected 13 career passes while picking up one interception. Williamson also forced a pair of fumbles and recovered one, showing a full arsenal on the defensive side and what he can do. While he may be a long shot to make this roster, Williamson won't let that deter him from giving his all. He is determined to show up in camp and be ready to outwork everyone to prove he has what it takes to play at this level. Another player that was supposed to go undrafted, Williamson, fits the bill of one of those flyer-type players, as the Bears wanted to work with him in camp. The former 4-star recruit is no stranger to the NFL landscape as his older brother Chris has seen time at CB and S in the NFL, and now Kendall will look to do the same. Williamson offers good measurables and testing numbers, but he lacks consistency. He plays with good route recognition when hovering in off-man coverage, but he might need more range to handle expanded areas of responsibility. He’s willing to show run support but overestimates his pursuit speed and misses tackles. He was also a first-team All-Academic All-American this season, showing he has brain smarts just as much as field smarts. Not only does he have NFL size, but he tested well during his Pro-day, drawing more scouts' attention than before. Williamson plays with consistent energy and is always looking to make a play, especially in the run game. He also does an excellent job of anticipating routes which makes him a treat to break up passes in coverage. When it comes to things he needs to work on with his game, Williamson does need to work on his tackling, as he missed far too many tackles in college. A lot of that had to do with him taking poor angles to get to ball carriers, which they will address in camp. You also have a guy with limited coverage range, which alone may limit him to more of a reserve role if he makes this team.
