CLEVELAND, Ohio -- LSU cornerback Greedy Williams spent the first round of the draft on Thursday in the thick of the action in Nashville, but his special "draft phone'' never rang.

So he headed back home to Shreveport, La., and when the Browns finally traded up for him midway through the second round on Friday, he missed the call and had to call them back.

But when he finally reached them and found out he was coming to the Land, he couldn’t have been happier.

"Greedy was giddy,'' coach Freddie Kitchens said after talking to his newest Brown. "He was excited.''

The Browns moved up three spots with the Colts to draft Williams, jumping up from No. 49 to No. 46, the 14th pick in the round. In the process, they surrendered the No. 144 overall pick in the fifth round, one of their three fifth-round picks. They still have five remaining selections on Saturday.

Williams joins Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham as other former LSU Tigers on the Browns, and was quickly welcomed by Beckham in an Instagram story and Landry on Twitter.

Another 🐯🐯🐯🐯 @Greedy WELCOME TO THE LAND — Jarvis Juice Landry (@God_Son80) April 27, 2019

Williams is just as excited to join the two Louisiana natives as they are to have him.

"I know those guys will get me right as far as playing the position,'' Williams said on a conference call shortly after the pick. "If you can cover them, you can cover anybody. They’ll teach me how to be a great pro in Cleveland.''

Williams, 6-2, 185, was the seventh cornerback drafted, and the sixth in the first 14 picks on Day 2. Browns GM John Dorsey, who tried to trade up as high as No. 40 on Friday presumably for one of the top corners, was surprised Williams last that long.

"I thought he’d be one of the first five guys picked off the board (on day two),'' Dorsey said. "This is a really good pick. The guy is a heck of a football player.’’

Like many draft experts, Williams thought he’d go in the first round, maybe even the first cornerback off the board. But Browns Vice President of Player Personnel Alonzo Highsmith believes the slide might work in his favor.

“The thing about Greedy Williams is you have a talented kid who the sky’s the limit for him,’’ Highsmith said. “He can be as good as he wants to be. He slipped in the draft. I never thought we’d get Greedy Williams at No. 49. He’s a 4.3 kid. He’s 6-2. He slipped some in the draft because he had some miscues this season and didn’t tackle as well as he should have.

“A lot of people dinged him for that, but coming here, I think we’ll get the best of him. Hopefully, he comes here with a chip on his shoulder and wants to prove to everybody that he can be the best player in this draft because he has the talent.”

Williams, who could start opposite 2018 fourth overall pick and Pro Bowler Denzel Ward, gives the Browns some height at cornerback to pair with Ward, who’s 5-11.

“Oh, my God, Me and Denzel, we are going to tear up the league,’’ said Williams. “You can go man on the outside all day, and we will lock down those receivers. Denzel is a Pro Bowl corner, came in his rookie year and did what he needed to do. I know he going to prep me up and get me ready to do the same thing. Possibly we can be the two Pro Bowl corners in the league playing for the same team.”

Dorsey was convinced Williams, one of three finalists for the Thorpe Award for the nation’s top defensive back, would be scooped up fast on day two.

“One of the coaches at LSU said he’s one of the most gifted corners ever to come through LSU,’’ said Dorsey. “That speaks volumes. That’s a learned trait from a young age. That’s an instinctive trait and following from the eyes. He has a nice intuitive feel about the game of football.”

Browns assistant GM Eliot Wolf knows Williams will lock down his side of the field. What’s more, he had eight interceptions in his 25 starts at LSU.

“He was a competitive guy in coverage just locking people down in the SEC,’’ said Wolf. “He can man cover. You can put him on an island over there. He has tremendous fluidity, tremendous ball skills. Felt like he played big at the catch point, which is something that we like at 6-2. We have a chance to really hit on that. We’re extremely fortunate to get him where we did.”

Dorsey had to pull the trigger where he did because cornerbacks were flying off the board and they were in jeopardy of getting shut out. Five flew off the board in the first 13 picks of the day, including Vanderbilt’s Joejuan Williams to New England the pick before they traded up. Also gone were Byron Murphy to the Cardinals with the first pick of the day, and Rock Ya-Sin with the second.

“You are watching the trends fall of the board,'' Dorsey said. "You guys saw it. You saw the corners and the defensive backs start to peel off there. It was inevitable that this guy was going to be peeled off within the next three to four spots of where we selected him. We said we would try to move up and be a little aggressive on players we thought could help us.”

From a talent perspective, Williams checked off all of Dorsey’s boxes. In drafting him, he left Cleveland’s own Justin Layne on the board for the Steelers to select with the 83rd pick in the third round, three spots after the Browns selected BYU linebacker Sione Takitaki.

“(Williams is) fluid, he’s easy, he’s a smooth-moving corner and he does it effortlessly. He has hip, he has feet and he has length,’’ said Dorsey. “He can play press, and he can play off. Now, you just want to see him mature moving forward.’’

Dorsey took exception to the notion he drafted Williams as an insurance policy against Ward’s concussions. He suffered two at the end of last season that cost him three of the last four games.

“I respect the question, but I think Denzel is one hell of a football player,’’ said Dorsey. “Anytime that you can acquire a corner like this player, it adds depth to that position where you need in the National Football League four or five like really talented corners to compete at a high level. That’s why you make a move like this.”

He added, “you can’t brush aside concussions. Not in today’s football. I’m sure knowing Denzel and the type of person he is that he’s done everything in his power to make sure that he’ll be out on that field for all 16 games.”

He’s also less concerned about Williams’ tackling deficiencies than some others.

“He’s playing in the hardest conferences there are in college football, and I think he holds up really well,’’ said Dorsey. “I have no problem with his tackling. Corners are paid to cover. The tackling aspect, just get the guy down.”

NFLdraftscout.com’s Ric Serritella had Williams ranked as his top cornerback of the draft, but still had a few concerns.

“While Williams' combination of size, speed and ball skills are tantalizing, he’s not for everyone, showing more of a cover corner mentality against the run than scouts would prefer,’’ he wrote in his draft guide. “Long, lanky press corners have never been more popular than today and Williams is as talented as they come, though there remain plenty of questions about his willingness to mix it up in the running game. Williams' exceptional upside warrants top 15 consideration but there is some bust potential here, as well.’’

He describes Williams as “a natural cover corner who displays excellent balance and initial acceleration out of his stance, Williams is buttery smooth transitioning out of his crouch in press, typically remaining hip to hip with most receivers down the sideline or on crossing routes. When he is caught slightly behind his opponent, Williams' length saves the day as his length and excellent hand-eye coordination allow him to slip his mitts between those of opponents to either break up the pass or steal it for himself.’’

Serritella compares him to12th-year pro Aqib Talib (6-1, 209) of the Rams.

“Like Talib, Williams' greatest attributes are his size, athleticism and ball-skills which suggest Pro Bowls are in his future,’’ he wrote.

Williams not only predicted that the Browns will go to the Super Bowl this year, but that he’ll play a key role in getting them there.

“Coming to Cleveland, I am that guy who can get you the ball two or three times a game, and I know for sure that (QB) Baker Mayfield is going to capitalize with those interceptions I get,’’ he said. “I feel like this team will be the Super Bowl champs this year.’’