Falcons: Could Chris Williamson take a drafted player’s roster spot?

A surprise name in training camp thus far has been a former seventh-round pick of the Giants — Chris Williamson. The second-year corner spent most of last season on the New York practice squad before joining the Falcons, but that hasn’t stopped him from turning heads in Flowery Branch.

Williamson intercepted A.J. McCarron on a throwback screen that was thrown too high, and it would’ve been a pick-six. A few plays later, he closed in on Ryan Becker after he caught a pass in the flats, punched the ball out, and recovered his own forced fumble. Arthur Smith said unprompted during his Sunday press conference of Williamson that he “keeps showing up.”

With your head coach repeatedly praising your performance in practice, Williamson has to feel optimistic about making the 53-man roster. He has good size at 6-foot and 205-pounds, but there would have to be a coordinating personnel move for Williamson to make the roster. The first names that come to most people’s minds are Isaiah Oliver and Kendall Sheffield after fans have been conditioned to expect poor play from the pair. The former is likely to make the roster after improved play occurred when he moved inside instead of consistently getting beat on the boundaries. So the latter of which, Sheffield, could be battling for a roster spot.

I believe Avery Williams’ special teams pedigree guarantees him a roster spot, which means Williamson will be competing with Sheffield for that last cornerback spot. Arthur Smith has remained adamant about competing at every position regardless of where the players are at on the depth chart, so this position battle is much more up in the air than it would’ve been with the previous regime. Williamson should be a fun watch for the rest of training camp.

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Photo: Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire