Does Jordan Williams have a place on Giants’ defense?

When teams change schemes the positions and roles of some players change — like the way the New York Giants are moving Olivier Vernon to outside linebacker. Sometimes, though, scheme changes can leave certain players on the outside looking in, without a comfortable fit in the new system.

Will that be the case for Jordan Williams?

The 25-year-old Williams, an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee, played one game for the Miami Dolphins in 2015. He played one game for the Giants last year. A college defensive tackle, the 6-foot-4, 272-pound Williams is best-suited in the NFL to be a 4-3 defensive end.

Is he big enough to handle 5-tech defensive end responsibilities in a 3-4? Or, is he agile enough to stand up and play outside linebacker? Let’s look closer at Williams as we near the end of our player-by-player profiles of the Giants’ 90-man training camp roster.

The basics

Age: 25
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 272
Position: DE/OLB
Experience: 2

2017 season in review

Williams had a good preseason for the Giants, with 6 tackles and a sack in three games. That earned him a spot on the practice squad. He appeared in one regular-season game, registering one tackle in a 51-17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

2018 outlook

That depends on the answers to the questions raised above. Williams is a quiet, hard-working player who has also learned to long snap. Whether or not he has the skill set to fit into James Bettcher’s defense remains to be seen.