Garrett Williams

HISTORY

 

Career Overview: Freshman All-American and three-time All-ACC defensive back, who emerged as a shut-down corner in his time at Syracuse ... Led the ACC in pass breakups in both 2020 and 2021 ... Freshman All-American by The Athletic in 2020 ... All-ACC selection in 2020, 2021 and 2022 ... Concluded his career tied for eighth in program history with 23 pass breakups ... Redshirted in 2019 ... In 32 career games played, had 152 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, two sacks, four interceptions, 27 passes defended, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery ... 152 tackles ranks 21st in Syracuse history in tackles by a defensive back, despite only playing a full three seasons worth of games at SU ... Declared for the 2022 NFL Draft after his redshirt-sophomore season was cut short due to injury.

Redshirt Sophomore Year (2022): Team captain ... Honorable Mention All-ACC ... Started seven games at corner before suffering a season-ending injury vs. Notre Dame ... Still finished second on the team in interceptions (2) and pass breakups (3), despite only playing half a season ... Anchored a defensive unit that finished in the season 14th nationally in passing defense (184.8) and 21st in total defense (328.6). At the time of his injury, the Syracuse defense ranked: 1st in the ACC (16th nationally) in total defense (303.1 ypg), 1st in the ACC (3rd nationally) in passing yards allowed (164.5), and 2nd in the ACC (19th nationally) in scoring defense (18.4 ppg) ... Allowed just 14 completions through seven games ... Made nine tackles and a crucial interception in the season-opening victory over Louisville (9/3) ... Made seven tackles and a sack at UConn (9/10) ... Notched 10 tackles and two pass breakups against Purdue (9/17) ... Had two takeaways in the win over Virginia (9/23), making an interception, and also forcing a fumble that he recovered, to compliment three tackles in the contest ... Earned ACC Defensive Back of the Week (9/26) for his efforts vs. the Cavaliers ... Made two tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss vs. NC State (10/15) ... Had four tackles vs. Notre Dame (10/29) ... Announced he was entering the NFL Draft at the conclusion of the 2022 season ... Earned the Pat Miller Award, which is given to 'the total package' student-athlete and honors an outstanding athlete, student and citizen, who is a loyal and dedicated teammate, excels in the classroom and is a selfless contributor in his community.

Redshirt Freshman Year (2021): All-ACC selection ... Started 10 games at corner ... Led all Orange defensive backs with 52 tackles and 5.0 tackles for loss ... Led the ACC in pass breakups for the second-straight season (10) ... Second in the ACC in passes defended per game ... Made four tackles, had a pass breakup and a sack in the Orange’s season-opening win at Ohio (9/4) ... Had a season-best eight tackles and a tackle for loss in the home opener against Rutgers (9/11) ... Made two solo stops and broke up two passes from Liberty QB Malik Willis in the Orange’s win over Liberty (9/24) ... Had five tackles, a quarterback hurry and a pass breakup against Florida State (10/10) ... Made six tackles and had a pair of pass breakups in ‘Cuse’s OT loss to Wake Forest (10/9) ... Had a season-high seven solo tackles and a tackle for loss against Clemson (10/15) ... Made seven tackles and had a season-high two tackles for loss and a pair of pass breakups vs. Boston College (10/30) ... Made five solo tackles against Louisville (11/13) ... Had four tackles and a pass breakup at NC State (11/20) ... Had four tackles and helped the Orange defense hold Pitt to its lowest passing yardage of the season vs. the Panthers (11/27) ... Ben Schwartzwalder Award winner ... Member of the SU Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in the spring semester. 

Redshirt Freshman Year (2020): Named a Freshman All-American by The Athletic … Honorable Mention All-ACC … Led the ACC in passes defended (12) and was seventh nationally at the conclusion of the regular season (second among freshmen) … Tied for the ACC lead with 10 pass breakups … 5.8 tackles per game was the most among ACC cornerbacks, and was third on Syracuse in tackles in 2020 (64) … According to Pro Football Focus, the cornerback duo of Williams and Ifeatu Melifonwu was the seventh-highest graded cornerback duo in the FBS … Made nine tackles and had a pass breakup in his first collegiate start at North Carolina (9/12) … Had six tackles at Pittsburgh (9/19) … Broke up two passes against Georgia Tech (9/26) … Picked off Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence for his first collegiate interception and returned it for a touchdown. It was the first time Lawrence surrendered a pick-six in his illustrious collegiate career. Also had eight tackles, two pass breakups and a tackle for loss against the Tigers (10/24) … Tied a career high with nine tackles and registered his first collegiate sack against Wake Forest (10/31) … Made six tackles and had his third-straight game with a TFL against Boston College (11/7) … Made an acrobatic one-handed interception against Louisville (11/20) … Had eight tackles and a career-high three pass breakups at Notre Dame (12/5).

Redshirt Year (2019): Appeared in four games on special teams ... Member of the kickoff coverage team versus Pittsburgh (10/18), at Florida State (10/26), at Louisville (11/23) and versus Wake Forest (11/30) ... Did not record any statistics.

High School: Played cornerback for head coach Sam Greiner … Considered one of the top overall prospects in North Carolina by Rivals.com (No. 53), ESPN (No. 61) and the 247Sports.com composite (No. 74) … No. 123 among Class of 2019 cornerbacks, according to ESPN … 2018 Southwestern 4A All-Conference choice … PrepStar All-Atlantic Team selection … Voted to the 2017 Charlotte Observer All-Region First Team … 2017 Independent Tribune Football “Dream Team” selection … Logged 68 tackles, three interceptions and 18 pass breakups as a junior … Added 639 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns for an 11-3 Hickory Ridge squad that reached the third round of the 2017 NCHSAA 4A playoffs … Team captain ... Sprinter for the Hickory Ridge track team.

PERSONAL

Garrett Alexander Williams … Born on June 1, 2001 in Charlotte, North Carolina … Son of George and Daphne Williams … One sister ... Dual major in marketing management and retail management.

2022

fumbles
REC	LOST	FUM
2.0	0.0	0.0

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
1.5	0.0	34.0	0.0	3.0	1.0	25.0

interceptions
TD	AVG	YDS	INT
0.0	2.5	5.0	2.0

2021

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
5.0	1.0	52.0	0.0	9.0	0.0	36.0

2020

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
3.0	0.0	64.0	1.0	10.0	1.0	54.0

interceptions
TD	AVG	YDS	INT
1.0	35.0	70.0	2.0