Cal Sports Report

Cal CB Nohl Williams Gets High Marks for His Shrine Game Performance

Bears' All-American defensive back Williams may have helped his NFL draft status; one play in particular made people take notice

Jake Curtis

Cal defensive back Nohl Williams
Cal defensive back Nohl Williams / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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Cal cornerback Nohl Williams may have improved his NFL draft status with his performance in Thursday’s East-West Shrine game as several experts praised the Bears All-American for what he showed in that game.

All four of Cal’s representatives in the Shrine game – Williams, cornerback Marcus Harris, safety Craig Woodson and linebacker Teddye Buchanan -- were starters on the West’s defense in the Shrine game won by the East 25-0, but it was Williams who caught people’s eyes.  It remains unclear when or if Williams will be selected the NFL draft, with projections for him ranging from the second round to undrafted.

Here is the play that impressed a lot of folks, nearly leading to a Woodson interception:

Under the headline “2025 NFL Draft: Five prospects who stood out in East-West Shrine Bowl” NFL.com draft analyst Chad Reuter named Williams among those five, with this comment:

Nohl Williams, CB, California

Williams started the game strong, running down the sideline in phase with speedy Maryland WR Kaden Prather and using his off hand to knock the ball away (almost leading to an interception). He showed some physicality during the contest, forcing a reverse play inside on fourth-and-1 and wrapping up the ball-carrier for a stop. He also sniffed out a running back screen in the third quarter. Williams should continue to earn high marks based on his senior-year play and efforts in the Shrine Bowl.

Garrett Podell of CBS Sports ranked the top performers in the Shrine game, and he placed Williams at No. 7, with this comment:

7. Cal CB Nohl Williams

--Height: 6'1*

--Weight: 200*

* From college rosteTop of Formr

Like Bryant, Nohl Williams won with regularity with his physicality, and he has prototypical size to be an NFL corner. He also made sure he demoralized opposing wide receiver after racking up wins against them one on one. If he puts up nice athletic testing numbers at the NFL Scouting Combine and/or Cal's Pro Day, Williams' stock could rise up the Day 3 boards. 

Williams also performed well in the Shrine practices in the days leading up to the game, and NFL scouts base a lot of their evaluations on those practices.

Williams and Buchanan were both named to the Shrine’s West all-practice team, an 12-player squad that notes the most impressive practice player at each position, including special teams.

Buchanan also performed well in the Shrine game, as hse statistics indicate:

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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