Williams, originally a five-star running back out of Royal High School, started his college football career at Oklahoma.

The conflict on grades stemmed from the little experience Williams had since he played cornerback in 13 games for one single season as a senior in contrast to his talent and ability.

Defensive backs coaches from the Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, and Oakland Raiders attended to personally scout and meet Williams.

[7][8] He competed with Asa Jackson, Tharold Simon, Harlan Miller, and Cariel Brooks throughout training camp for a job as a backup cornerback.

[9] After showing promise throughout camp, Williams climbed the depth chart and began to compete against Justin Bethel and Mike Jenkins for the vacant starting cornerback job left by the departure of Jerraud Powers.

[10] Head coach Bruce Arians named Williams the Cardinals' starting cornerback, along with Patrick Peterson, to begin the regular season.

[11] He earned his first career start and made his professional regular season debut in the Cardinals' season-opener against the New England Patriots and finished the 22–23 loss with two combined tackles.

Williams struggled throughout his debut and gave up a touchdown pass after missing a hand signal that switched the defense from zone to man coverage.

In Week 2, he alternated plays with Marcus Cooper who the Cardinals acquired in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs on September 2, 2017.