Need To Know! Meet New Cardinals De Jonah Williams

A lot has been written about how bad the Arizona Cardinals’ offense was last year, and could not finish games. But the defense going into this year’s offseason needs quite a bit as well.

So far in the free agency period, Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort has seen the holes and has attempted to fix the team’s needs.

RELATED: CARDINALS FREE AGENCY TRACKER

Overall, Arizona’s defense ranked #27 this past season. The breakdown is ranked #24 against the pass and #25 in run defense. Things need to change this year. New bodies need to arrive.

The defensive line has been a concern. Ossenfort signed DT Roy Lopez III and has brought back DT L.J. Collier in free agency, and now has inked DE Jonah Williams. The “other Jonah Williams.”

Who is he? How can he help the Cardinals in 2025?

Beginnings

Williams, age 30, was raised in Meridian, Idaho, which is a short hop from Boise along I-84 West. The city is inhabited by just over 117,000, where the summers are hot and dry, while the winters are brutally cold.

He played tight end and was named captain for the football squad at Rocky Mountain High School, where he earned First Team All-Conference honors as a senior, along with being named Second Team All-State. In high school, he weighed 270 pounds with a height of 6’-5”.

Williams had only three college offers, but only one included a free ride: Weber State University. He had interest from Boise State and Utah State, which wanted him to come as a preferred walk-on and work his way into a scholarship. Instead, he took the sure thing and attended Weber State.

This decision was the correct one because he received four-years of education plus ended up with a wife. He was a late enrollee because he served on a mission trip in São Paulo, Brazil, through his faith at Latter-Day Saints.

Weber State played Williams right away. He started all 12 games as a freshman and was impressive right away. He recorded 53 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 hurries, plus he blocked a kick. For his efforts, he was named to the Hero Sports FCS All-Freshman Team. He also earned Big Sky Academic All-Conference honors.

In his sophomore campaign, he played in all 14 games with 12 starts, and finished with 37 total tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 2 hurries, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble, and had two blocked kicks, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Williams was named Second-Team Big Sky All-Conference plus earned his second consecutive Big Sky Academic All-Conference honors.  

He continued his success in his junior year in 2018 with 42 tackles. He was finally named First Team Big Sky All-Conference plus earned another Big Sky Academic All-Conference honor. 

Williams really balled out as a senior. He was named defensive captain as Weber State won its third consecutive Big Sky title and advanced to the FCS Semifinals.

For Williams, he had 62 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 5 hurries, 3 pass breakups, 7.5 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, and 1 forced fumble. He was named to his second straight First Team Big Sky All-Conference and earned All-American honors. Plus, he was voted “Big Sky Defensive MVP.” He was also selected for the Big Sky Academic All-Conference honors for the fourth time in his career. 

For his college career, Williams tallied 194 total tackles, 28 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 54 games played, and three blocked kicks.  

On to the NFL

Unfortunately for Williams, being named a conference’s defensive player of the year meant little as he went undrafted in the 2020 NFL draft. He did have plenty of clubs calling for him to sign an undrafted rookie free agent deal, and he chose the Los Angeles Rams.

He had a great camp and was a last-day cut. He was then signed to the Rams’ practice squad, where he remained all season. During the offseason, he was inked to a reserve/futures contract. This time around, after another very good training camp, he made the final roster. Williams played sparingly and appeared in eight games with 96 defensive reps and 41 special teams snaps, mainly on the kickoff team.

In the next two seasons, Williams increased his playing time with the standard defense. He had 23 and 49 tackles, respectively, with 2.5 sacks, 12 pressures, and 8 QB hits. However, right before the Week 9 game against the Tennessee Titans, he was waived after the Rams signed DE Von Miller.

The following day, three teams put in a waiver claim on him: Arizona, Los Angeles Chargers, and the Minnesota Vikings, who had the lowest waiver claim and ended up with Williams. However, he failed the physical.

The cause of the failure was that the physical revealed a hernia issue. The hernia was a discouraging development, but perhaps another club would be willing to overlook it and keep him on their roster. The Rams then reclaimed him and designated Williams to their practice squad. That was the year that the Rams won the Super Bowl, so Williams owns a ring.

Williams talked about his time with the Rams to Rene Nadeau of Crescent City Sports:

“In 2020, while with the Rams playing under (defensive coordinator) Brandon Staley, I was 270 lbs. and playing outside linebacker. That was my skill set. I had come from a 4-3 system [at Weber State], and then I was told to report at 295 lbs. I played all along the defensive line, including nose tackle. You just have to know when and where you’re going to get thrown in. The more you can do, the better.”

He ended up on the practice squad of four NFL clubs, filling up his frequent flyer miles card. Last year, he was signed by the New Orleans Saints when Staley was hired as their DC. Williams appeared in 15 games with New Orleans with 18 total tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 5 QB hits, 3 sacks, 8 pressures, 2 knockdowns, 3 hurries, and 0 missed tackles.

Every defensive line needs four guys on the outside, and four along the interior. Then, the DC will rotate players in and out all game so that in the final stanza, they have their legs. Williams can provide a decent player who will come in and bring high energy to the huddle. He is dependable at tackling with a quick first step. Extremely intelligent. High character, a great physique, and can disrupt the pocket.

Is he Josh Sweat 2.0? Of course not, but he can rush the passer and has good instincts with stopping the run game.   

He is married to Kennedy Williams, who was a member of the Weber State volleyball team. His brother, Savannah, is a professional rugby athlete. Williams’ Instagram is @jonahcwilliams.