Senior cornerback on USC's 2026 roster.
5′10″ · 200 lb · Starke, FL · Bradford HS / Iowa State
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
Recruiting
ATH recruit
No. 1596 nationally · Signed with Iowa State
Last played in 2026.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Senior cornerback on USC's 2026 roster.
Jontez Williams
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Across four seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Matt Campbell and Lincoln Riley. Two straight seasons of it now: Preseason All-Big 12 (media) again in 2025. One game to point at: 3 tackles against Fresno State — Week 1, 2026.
6 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.
Career arc
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG 12 · 2ND TEAM
All-Big 12 2nd team (2024)
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Lincoln Riley.
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to USC
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | USC | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Iowa State | 15 | 9 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | -- |
| 2024 | Iowa State | 46 | 23 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 5 | 4 | -- |
| 2023 | Iowa State | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3 | -- | -- |
| Career | 73 | 36 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 11 | 5 | -- |
Game by game
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 4 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 42-26vs San José State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 1 | W 39-0vs Fresno State | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 2 | W 49-30vs Louisiana | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | W 42-35@ Rutgers | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 39–0
vs Fresno State
Since week 2: +1 tackle.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 4 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Road1g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Lincoln Riley
Pass share
47.3%
129 pass / 144 run
Plays / game
68.2
4 games
Team sack rate
2.2%
137 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
Tackle volume for the position at the early end of the ladder.
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
CFB Index positional classification
Player DNA
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Juawan Treadwell’s 2022 season.
Matches Juawan on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Daiquan White's junior season at Georgia Tech (2025).
Matches Daiquan on
CAREER: Throughout his four-year career at Iowa State, Williams has recorded 67 tackles, including 3.5 for loss of 5 yards, 15 PBUs and 5 INTs while appearing in 32 games with 29 starts. 2026: Williams, who transferred to USC from Iowa State in January of 2026 and was the No. 1 cornerback in…
17 more on the roster · USC team page