By admin 
The Cleveland Browns signed linebacker Quincy Williams signed a two-year, $13 million contract back in March, and the move was lauded by the talking heads. The Browns appeared to give the defense a huge injection of talent, lessening the blow of losing Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah indefinitely.
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Williams made his regular-season debut in the 34-10 road loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1, and the debut certainly did not go according to plan for fans expecting to get the best from the linebacker who was named an All-Pro in the 2023 season.
Quincy Williams Among Worst-Graded Linebackers
According to Pro Football Focus, Williams was graded with a mark of 29.9, which was 66th out of 68 linebackers in the NFL from Week 1.
Williams was credited with a total of four stops, including three solo tackles, but he didn’t have any sacks, tackles for losses, passes defensed or quarterback hits. In other words, he was terribly involved, which was a theme for the entire Cleveland defense.
In Week 1, the Browns were credited with 26 solo tackles, one sack, four tackles for loss, one pass defensed and three quarterback hits, as Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence barely had a grass stain on his pants after the victory.
Williams, 30, was selected by the Jaguars in Round 3 of the 2019 NFL Draft with the No. 98 pick overall. He barely made a splash in Duval, playing a total of 18 games in his first two NFL seasons, posting 59 total stops, 35 solo tackles and no sacks.
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In 2021, he moved to the New York Jets, where he really made a name for himself. He had 106 or more total tackles from 2021-24, including at least 73 solo tackles in each of those seasons. In his Jets career, he totaled 12.5 sacks in five seasons, which is an added bonus. He is more known for his tackling ability than his ability to get to the quarterback. In 2024, he also forced four fumbles, pounding on three of those.
Williams was Signed to Replace Devin Bush
Williams was added to replace linebacker Devin Bush, who ended up signing with the Chicago Bears. Both of those players were in the 2019 NFL Draft class, with Bush picked in Round 1 with the No. 10 overall pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers out of the University of Michigan.
Williams reportedly wanted to play with defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg, who was the linebackers coach for the Jets from 2021-24, his best seasons as a pro. He was also the assistant linebackers coach with the Jaguars in 2019, Williams’ rookie season.
Anyway, there is nowhere to go but up for Williams. He averaged 6.3 or more total stops per season in five NFL campaigns with the Jets, and it won’t take much for Williams to erase the poor start. Let’s not overreact quite yet.
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This story was originally published September 16, 2026 at 9:38 PM.