Mike Williams is a wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers, who was drafted in 2017 with the No. 7 overall pick. Williams played at Lake Marion HS in Santee, South Carolina before committing to play college football at Clemson. After a breakout sophomore year at Clemson, he suffered a season-ending injury on the first offensive possession of the season his junior year. He picked up where he left off with a 1,361 yard, 11 touchdown redshirt junior season, and then he declared for the NFL Draft after winning a national championship. To go with his 6’4”, 218-lb frame, Williams ran a 4.54 40-yard dash at his pro day.
Despite his lofty pedigree, Mike Williams struggled out of the gate in the NFL. In his rookie year, he missed training camp due to a spinal injury and finished the year with 95 receiving yards across 9 games played. Over the next three seasons the fantasy community held their collective breath in hopes of a breakout, but Williams was consistently not a priority in the Chargers offense. Across those three years, Williams’ target share peaked at 16.5% in 2019 and he was used mainly as a deep threat, with an ADOT of 15.9 across all three seasons.
With a new head coach and offensive coordinator in 2021, Williams’ usage shifted and his ADOT fell to 10.8 with a 20.8% target share. This also led to a jump in his yards after catch, where Williams gained 414 YAC compared to a previous career high of 208 YAC. However, Williams struggled with drops in 2021, as he dropped 8 targets. His breakthrough 2021 season had some hot and cold spells, however, and he enters the 2022 offseason as an unrestricted free agent. His 2022 ADP currently sits at 59.4, but it remains to be seen what jersey Williams will be wearing this September.
