The Most Important Packers: No. 11 — S Evan Williams
Green Bay Packers third-year safety Evan Williams could be poised for a breakout season.
Getty ImagesThe Green Bay Packers were arguably the most disappointing team in football last year. And perhaps no one did less with more than Packers’ coach Matt LaFleur.
Green Bay headed into the 2025 season with one of the NFL’s top rosters, then traded for star defensive end Micah Parsons 10 days before the year began. Suddenly, Packer Nation was dreaming of their first Super Bowl appearance since 2010.
Instead, Green Bay went a remarkably unsatisfying 9-8-1 overall and was the NFC’s No. 7 seed for a third consecutive year. The Packers then blew a 21-3 halftime lead in the Wild Card round against Chicago, gave up 25 fourth quarter points and eventually suffered a shocking 31-27 loss to the arch-rival Bears.
“No way you should lose games in this league when you’re up that much,” running back Josh Jacobs said.
Green Bay, which began the year 9-3-1, finished the season with five straight losses. The Packers now enter 2026 with the league’s fourth-longest losing streak.
Collapsing late in games was the story of Green Bay’s 2025 campaign.
Green Bay had double digit leads in the final minutes twice against Chicago and also vs. Cleveland and somehow went 0-3 in those games. The Packers’ odds of losing all three contests were 1-in-250,000, yet they somehow did it.
“That (expletive), it’s starting to get damn-near embarrassing,” safety Javon Bullard said.
Rebounding won’t be easy as the Packers were hit hard in free agency and didn't have a first round draft pick.
Green Bay’s first training camp practice is July 29. Between now and then I will count down the ‘30 Most Important Packers’ heading into the 2026 campaign.
At No. 11 is safety Evan Williams.
No. 11
Evan Williams, S
Last season
Williams played in 16 games with 15 starts, which were both career highs. He posted career bests of 89 tackles (47 solo), four tackles for a loss, three interceptions, a fumble recovery, five passes defensed and three quarterback pressures.
Williams led Green Bay with three interceptions and joined Cleveland’s Devin Bush as the only players in football to record at least 85 tackles, four tackles for a loss, three interceptions and a fumble recovery. Williams was also the first Packer to hit those marks in a season since linebacker A.J. Hawk in 2010.
Williams became the first Packer since 2000 to register at least 100 tackles, four interceptions and five tackles for a loss over his first two NFL seasons. He also tied for fifth on the team with 11 special teams tackles.
Career to date
Williams was named to the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) All-Rookie team after an impressive season in 2024.
Williams made six starts and played in 13 games as a rookie. He had an interception, forced a fumble, had three passes defensed and 47 tackles.
Williams didn’t play a single snap in the Packers’ Week 1 loss to Philadelphia in Brazil, and he played just 34 total snaps from scrimmage in Green Bay’s first four games. But he moved into the starting lineup in Week 5 and made six starts overall.
What slowed Williams were hamstring and quadriceps injuries, as well as a late-season concussion. In all, Williams missed four games and couldn’t finish two others.
Outlook
Williams finished last season with an overall grade of 69.0 from Pro Football Focus, which ranked 32nd among 98 qualifying safeties. His coverage grade of 62.0 ranked 44th and his run-defense grade of 82.4 ranked 10th.
Williams is one of the brightest players on the roster and has been lauded by coaches since Day 1 for his intelligence. His tackling, instincts and hands are impressive, as well.
With two quality seasons under his belt, Williams could be poised for a breakout year in 2026.
They said it …
“I think it’s grown a lot, and I think you’re going to see it at its peak, like its peak performance, especially this year, because we’ve been able to play with each other for a couple years. So he knows how I work, I know how he works, and we have kind of those tendencies with each other that we know. OK, he wants to do this, I want to do this, and we kind of work off of that. So, it’s going to be fun man. We’ve had a relationship ever since he got here, and it’s done nothing but just grow. So now I think we’re at a point where he’s older, obviously I’m an older guy now at this point, and you’re going to see it really take the next step.” — safety Xavier McKinney on his chemistry with Williams
“I definitely pride myself on my physicality, as well as kind of just being able to do a little bit of everything. I feel like the first thing that people look at when they look at a safety is can he tackle? Can he tackle in the open field? And yeah, you get in a gap, you gotta be ready for some of the things that are coming with the box. But yeah, definitely something I hang my hat on is being a physical safety when I need to be and yeah, when I get back I can show my range a little bit.” — Williams on his strengths
“He’s a ballhawk and he’s got a nose for the football, he’s really intelligent, he can anticipate things. It’s like having another coach on the field.” — Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur on Williams
The Top 30
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
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