Tyrell Williams Fantasy Outlook: When to Draft Raiders WR

tyrell willams

Getty Oakland Raiders WR Tyrell Williams.

One of the bigger acquisitions that the Oakland Raiders made in the offseason that went under the radar was wide receiver Tyrell Williams. The former Los Angeles Charger didn’t really have much of a role there any longer, so he decided to leave in free agency. The Raiders scooped him up and gave him a big contract to pair with Antonio Brown. While Brown will get the bulk of the targets, Williams should still be an interesting fantasy football option.

With Brown out with injury for most of training camp, Williams has become Derek Carr’s go-to target. He’s been impressing with his hands and speed. He also believes he’s more versatile than he’s given credit for.

“I feel like I’m one of the more underrated receivers,” Williams said early in training camp. “I know I can run every route and obviously I can get better at it, but I know I can run all those routes, I can get open with every route. So, I definitely feel like I’m overlooked in my short game, but I do feel I can be a good short route runner.”


Tyrell Williams Fantasy Football Projections: Outlook & Preview

Number two receivers have played very well next to Brown in the past. JuJu Smith-Schuster averaged 1,172 receiving yards a season and seven touchdowns while playing next to Brown for two years. It’s easy to forget that Williams is only a couple of years removed from a thousand-yard season. He could get close to that again in 2019.

Fantasy Pros has Williams as the 129th overall prospect and 52nd wide receiver. Sorry, I’m not buying that Michael Gallup and Donte Moncrief are going to have better seasons than Williams. He’s been pretty consistent through the last three seasons, so it seems strange that they have him so low. Scout.com is higher on him and said that he’s a great sleeper candidate.

“Williams has put up nearly 2500 receiving yards over the last 3 seasons while playing for the Chargers and could put up big numbers for the Raiders with their lack of receiving options.”

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When to Draft Tyrell Williams in 2019 Fantasy Football

If you can swoop up Williams in a later round, you should. He has a lot of upside as a WR2 or Flex option. Antonio Brown seems like he’s going to play from week one, so that does hurt Williams’ value a bit. However, as we previously said, number two wide receivers have played well next to Brown and Derek Carr likes to spread the ball around.

The Action Network projects Williams to get 41 receptions, 653 yards and 3.9 touchdowns. That wouldn’t be too far off of his average over the last two seasons, but the Raiders have less receiving talent than the Chargers had those years. He’ll be more of a focal point this offense. During Carr’s best season in 2016, he had two receivers break 1,000 yards. While that fact may take away from Brown’s numbers a bit, it helps Williams’ prospects. He could also benefit if Brown’s feet start to hurt again and he has to miss time.

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