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Today's featured player has been in a lot of the early fall camp updates. He recently moved to safety, at least for the first two games, but has been a solid starter at cornerback opposite a guy who is now off to the NFL.
Frankie Williams - Jr.
Tampa, Florida (Robinson HS)
5'9", 189 pounds
Defensive Back
2014 Projection: Starter at Cornerback/safety/punt returner
With Taylor Richards sitting out the first two games, Frankie Williams has moved into the starting safety slot, at least for now. Last season he started 11 games at cornerback and was quite successful with 61 tackles and a pair of interceptions. Those were good numbers opposite Ricardo Allen, who finished as one of the best corners in the Big Ten.
So far Williams has moved to safety, but we could see him as more of a hybrid safety/corner throughout the year. In 2012 he played in all 13 games and even made five starts as a freshman. He had 45 tackles and a pair of interceptions, so along with Landon Feichter he has the most career picks on the team with four.
Finally, Williams gave Purdue a real, live threat as a punt returner. He only had five returns, but earned 80 yards for a 16.8 yard average. We can expect him to be one of the team leaders on defense for each of the next two seasons.