Kyle Williams doesn’t sound like a player interested in being boxed in.
Yes, the Patriots wideout showed exactly why defenses have to respect his vertical game during the preseason, when he caught three touchdowns on the same route: a go ball. But Williams made it clear he sees a much broader offensive toolbox than that.
“I’ve been hearing that my whole life man, so I wouldn’t really say it’s a chip on my shoulder,” Williams said. “I know what I can do.
I know I’m more than just a vertical guy. Whatever my role is that’s my role and I’m gonna accept it.”
That deep threat profile is real. Williams’ release package and speed down the sideline make him dangerous on the outside, and that was a major part of his usage last season.
One-third of his routes were go balls, one of the highest rates in football. Only a few players had a higher rate, including recently traded wide receiver Kayshon Boutte.
Even with Boutte gone, Williams’ ability to stretch the field remains a useful piece of the Patriots’ offense. The team added to the receiver room this offseason, but A.J.
Brown and Romeo Doubs are not exactly burners, which keeps Williams’ vertical skill set important. Drake Maye’s deep-ball ability only adds to that.
Still, Williams is trying to become more than the guy who runs past people.
The 23-year old spent the offseason working on intermediate routes and moving around the formation after lining up almost exclusively outside and on the ball during his first year. That shift has given him a different kind of challenge - and a chance to show more of what he can do.
“In college, I really wasn’t exposed to too many intermediate routes. So now I’m getting that opportunity to do it,” Williams said this summer.
“So Year 1 to Year 2 it’s definitely been night and day. Now it’s just that ball finding me across the middle and everything so I can really showcase what I’ve been working on.”
Learning the details of Josh McDaniels’ offense is part of that growth, and Williams said the toughest part has been the split-second decision-making that comes with the system. Todd Downing said that process has been moving in the right direction.
“It’s time on task, right?,” wide receiver coach Todd Downing said. “And there are some things that collegiately, maybe Kyle was able to do, because he was just more physically talented than some of the defenses that he was going against. And you get it this league, and I’ve always said that the closer you are to the football, the faster things happen.
“I think Kyle is starting to get more and more comfortable with that speed and that urgency that it takes to make the right decisions in there. So, I’m excited where he’s at and I love the approach that he’s taken - a do anything he’s asked approach, and he’s done well with his [opportunities].”
With the regular season opener against the Seattle Seahawks just a week away, Williams says he’s still expanding his game while settling into a crowded receiver group.
“I feel like I bring a lot, just as much as the other guys do,” Williams said. “So, I mean, I don’t really want to single myself out, but as a whole room, I feel like we nasty. I feel like we got a nasty group.”
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For the Patriots, the move is as much about coverage as it is about upside. Hunter gives them an extra body in a spot they need to reinforce, and he also brings a path to contributing on special teams, which is often how unproven defenders carve out a place on the roster. The question now is whether his preseason momentum can carry into a bigger opportunity when the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]