Los Angeles Chargers 90-in-90: S Kendall Williamson

Veteran safety Kendall Williamson is next up in our 90-in-90 series!

Let's get to know him!

The Basics

Height: 6'0
Weight: 203 pounds
College: Stanford
Experience: 3

Williamson is a native of Snellville, Georgia where he starred at Brookwood High School under head coach Phillips Jones. As a senior, he recorded 94 tackles six pass breakups, and four interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. He was rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com and the 34th-ranked cornerback in the nation. He ultimately chose to continue his football career at Stanford over numerous other Power 5 offers.

As a true freshman for the Cardinal, Williamson played in 10 total games and earned one start at safety. He recorded 16 total tackles and a pair of tackles for loss.

He earned a starting role in 2019, playing in 11 games and recording 47 tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass breakup, and a fumble recovery. Williamson retained that starting role in 2020 during the pandemic-shortened season, starting all six games they were able to play that season. He ended the year with just 23 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

With things back to normal in the college football world, Williamson was back in the starting lineup for all 12 games in 2021. He recorded a career-high 67 tackles to go with 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, a forced fumble, and seven pass breakups (also a career high). After the season, Williamson was given the Tommy Vardell Award, a honor given to a Stanford football upperclassmen who exhibits excellence in both athletics and academics.

Williamson's final year of eligibility saw him start all 10 games he played in for the Cardinal. He recorded another 50 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, another forced fumble, four pass breakups, and his first career interception.

By the time he left Stanford, Williamson was named a four-time Pac-12 All-Academic Honor Roll selection (2019-2022).

During the 2023 NFL Draft, Williamson was selected in the seventh round by the Chicago Bears. He spent the entire year on the practice squad. Following the season, he was not signed to a reserve/futures contract.

In January of 2024, Williamson was signed to a reserve/futures contract by the Buffalo Bills. After spending the summer with the team, he was included in their final roster cuts in August.

On October 30th of that year, Williamson was signed to the Chargers practice squad. He saw his first stint on the active roster when the Bolts elevated him during their Week 16 game against the Broncos. His appearance in that game was also his NFL debut.

In 2025, Williamson saw time in all 17 regular season games, mainly on special teams, and ended the year with 14 total tackles on defense and five on special teams. On March 6th, the Chargers signed him to an extension through the 2026 season.

The Good

Williamson only saw 27 total snaps played on defense in 2025 but he graded well. His 73.4 was the fifth-highest grade given among Chargers defenders, regardless of snaps played. His best grade came in tackling with a 79.7 while his second best came in run defense with a 77.0. These are strong grades and compare much better than his grades from a year ago when he saw a similar snap count (19).

The safety room is crowded, but Williamson has turned himself into a reliable depth piece if injuries mount fast.

The Bad

Williamson couldn't stick it with two different teams before he found himself with the Chargers. That leaves us asking if he truly wasn't good enough for those teams or if the Bolts were just better at finding the value he could bring to a team.

Coming out of the draft, Williamson's biggest red flags were in his tackling consistency, pursuit angles, and range in coverage. His coverage numbers were much worse in 2025 than his run defense grades, so it may be fine to say he needs to progress in the former area while he seemingly has made some big strides in the latter.

2026 Outlook

Williamson has played his way into a fringe spot on the active roster. He's the team' sixth safety, but his contributions on special teams has given him enough value that the Bolts may want to keep him on the active so he cannot be poached by another team. Under both Jesse Minter and Chris O'Leary, the Chargers love to feature three safeties given Derwin James' ability to play in the slot and in the box. This essentially bumps up their safety room to one more usable spot and Williamson has a shot there on top of being a core special-teamer.