Aaron Glenn: Will Harris Is Better Athlete than Saints P.J. Williams

Originally posted on Detroit Lions on SI
By John Maakaron | Last updated 1/7/22

The Detroit Lions have been forced to get quite creative on defense this season.

For safety Will Harris, that means also playing at nickel cornerback and most recently at cornerback to fill in for those out due to injury or are out of action due to the global pandemic.

"Will Harris has a lot of value as far as a player just in general because he’s played every position in the back end that you can imagine. I had a guy like this named P.J. Williams with the Saints, and he was just like Will. Actually, he wasn’t as good of an athlete as Will, but the one thing that he was, he was very smart," defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn told reporters this week. "At the drop of a hat, we can put him in that position that he didn’t get a lot of reps in that week. And you see Will doing the same thing."

On the New Orleans Saints, where both Glenn and head coach Dan Campbell have previously coached under Sean Payton, Williams is a safety that has also been called upon to be a versatile player.

He previously played cornerback the first six seasons in the league, before being asked to play a different position in the secondary.

"I feel like I embraced it. They knew pretty much I'm fine playing anywhere and they trusted me just to move to safety just really on short notice," Williams said. "And then also last year with COVID and stuff, it was a lot of moving pieces, so they trust me to pretty much play everywhere. But I've for sure embraced it and I feel like this is a position that I can be really good at and continue my career with it."

For Harris, he is not concerned that his disposition on the Lions will impact his negotiating power when his rookie deals ends following the conclusion of the 2022 NFL season.

"There’s not a lot of guys that’ll want to do that now, especially in this league because of they care about who they are, they care about being comfortable at one position. And Will’s a guy that said, 'Listen, coach, whatever you need me to do, we’ll do it.' So there’s a lot of value in that player," Glenn said. "So I can’t just sit here and say he’s going to be this, this or that. He’s that piece that we can put anywhere we need to at the drop of a hat if we need him."

This article first appeared on Detroit Lions on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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