Michigan State football: Ronald Williams has tools to bounce back in 2022

Ronald Williams could be Michigan State football’s top cornerback for the 2022 season and he has the tools to bounce back after a tough 2021.

Transferring in from Alabama last offseason, Ronald Williams was expected to have a big year with Michigan State football.

The Spartans didn’t have many proven returning pieces in the secondary and Williams had gone the JUCO route before playing for Nick Saban at Alabama. He then decided after one year with the Tide in which he won a national title that he wanted to go somewhere that he could start and have a true impact. He played a little with the Tide but lost out on the starting battle due to an injury.

Michigan State was the choice and it felt like a perfect fit. The Spartans, namely Harlon Barnett, had a history of success with cornerbacks like him who are athletic and aggressive.

Unfortunately, he struggled to adjust to a new defense in 2021 and had an up-and-down season.

Williams finished with 38 tackles but he did get better throughout the year and showed flashes of being a lockdown corner. He had eight pass breakups and a pick as well.

If Michigan State’s defense is going to get back on track in 2022, Williams needs to have a huge bounce-back season as a projected starter alongside fellow SEC transfer product Ameer Speed. And guess what? He has all the tools to have that bounce-back and now he has Mel Tucker coaching him up as he’s taken over the cornerbacks room.

Williams could be that ‘lockdown’ cornerback that he was expected to be when he committed to the Tide ahead of 2020. He was the third-best JUCO cornerback in the 2020 class and Tide fans were excited to see if he could take that Alabama secondary to the next level.

Health kept that from happening as he suffered an injury in September of 2020.

Now truly healthy and heading into his second year in the same system, Williams can use that pure talent to carry him and he will become more of a lockdown and No. 1 corner this year.

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