The Green Bay Packers have some well-known and respected players on their roster entering the 2026 NFL season. Micah Parsons earned his place as one of the best defensive players in the game and Xavier McKinney earned All Pro honors in each of the last two seasons. But one player who does not get the recognition he deserves is safety Evan Williams. That’s why Evan Williams may be the Packers most underrated player.

Packers Safety Evan Williams May Be the Team’s Most Underrated Player: His First Two Seasons

The Packers selected Williams in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The former played 13 games as a rookie and started six of them. He was on the field for 56 percent of the Packers defensive snaps. By the end of his first NFL season, Williams was starting and making plays. He was good in coverage and also made plays close to the line of the scrimmage.

“I take a lot of pride in that,” Williams told reporters about his ability to make tackles in the run game. “I feel like the casual fan kind of looks over those type of plays but when you look back at it, that’s a good 60-70% of the game are those run plays that a lot of people look over.” He added, “I want to be the complete player that I think I can be, it definitely starts with being stout in the run game.”

By last season, Williams established himself as a full-time starter. He teamed with McKinney to give the Packers one of the better starting duos at safety in the NFL. Williams led the team with three interceptions, broke-up five passes, recovered a fumble and recorded four tackles for loss. Williams reads plays well with his high football IQ.

Getting Respect

While Williams fell short of Pro Bowl status, his coaches and teammates recognize what he brings to the table.

“He’s always been a pretty aware player,” head coach Matt LaFleur said last season when asked about Williams. “He’s got great instincts, but now just his knowledge of what we’re trying to get accomplished, and then his ability to disguise and hold things, and then on the snap, trigger. … The physicality that he’s brought to our defense has been pretty impressive.”

McKinney recognizes how well his fellow starting safety is playing. “He’s a special player, man,” he said. “He’s done a hell of a job for this defense, for this team, and you just continue to see his growth, within every game, within every practice, and you know that’s good for all of us.”

Williams admits he’s learned a lot from McKinney. “He’s mostly taught me just about the everyday habits that make him who he is. A lot of people don’t see the behind the scenes and how intentional he is during practices,” Williams said. “That was definitely one thing that stood out to me when I first got here. In every walk through, he’s taking that thing serious, right? He’s making sure he’s exactly where he needs to be aligned, going through the assignment, going through the keys…getting full reps in a walk through.”

The two safeties were recently ranked as the third best in the NFL by Sports Illustrated this week.

Packers Safety Evan Williams May Be the Team’s Most Underrated Player: Looking Ahead

As highly regarded as the Packers starting safety duo is, there are definite reasons to think things could get even better in 2026. For one thing, new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon relies heavily on his safeties, and they play a big role in his defenses.

McKinney also believes the duo can get better this year as their chemistry continues to grow. “I think it’s grown a lot,” McKinney said. “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.”

Off the field, Williams also took the next step in his life as he got engaged earlier this month while in Italy.

Williams may be the most underrated player on the Packers roster, but don’t be surprised if that changes in 2026.

 

 

 

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