49ers: K’Waun Williams named most underrated player on the team
By Justin Fried
San Francisco 49ers’ cornerback K’Waun Williams is the most underrated player on the team.
The San Francisco 49ers‘ defense took a massive step forward in 2019 from being arguably one of the worst units in the league in 2018 to perhaps the best the following season.
Some give the credit to the countless star players who made up the 49ers’ defense in 2019. Players like Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, Fred Warner, Richard Sherman, and the recently-departed DeForest Buckner were all integral members of the dominant defensive unit.
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Others give credit to defensive coordinator Robert Saleh who managed to go from a coach potentially on the hot seat to a possible head coaching candidate in one season.
In reality, all are fair individuals to give credit to. But on a defense with so much star power, some players are bound to get overlooked.
49ers’ cornerback K’Waun Williams remains completely overlooked.
And perhaps no player has been overlooked more than cornerback K’Waun Williams. Finally, however, it appears that Williams is beginning to get his due.
Pro Football Focus recently released an article detailing the most underrated player on each NFL team and Williams was named the 49ers’ representative. And for 49ers fans, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Williams had a phenomenal season with the team in 2019 securing an 80.3 PFF grade — good for the seventh-best cornerback in the entire NFL. The former Cleveland Browns cornerback has been a solid contributor for the 49ers’ defense over the past three seasons.
But 2019 was undoubtedly the best season of his tenure in San Francisco.
This is what PFF had to say about the 28-year-old cornerback.
"“The only two qualifying cornerbacks with a better overall grade in the slot than Williams since 2014 are Chris Harris Jr. and Desmond King II. His play was an underrated component of San Francisco’s success on defense in 2019, and he’ll likely be a big reason for the team’s continued success next season.”"
That’s some incredibly impressive company to be compared to. Harris and King are two of the best slot cornerbacks in the NFL — the former being considered one of the very best at his position in the NFL for the better part of the past decade.
If Williams can continue to play as he did in 2019, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t receive more praise around the NFL.
On a defense full of superstars who receive high-profile accolades and acclaim, K’Waun Williams might be the glue that holds everything together.
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And for that reason, no player on the team remains more underrated than he does.