New England Patriots wide receiver Kyle Williams has generated buzz throughout the course of the offseason. Now, a new report from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer continues that buzz. Breer made a recent television appearance and talked about how teammates view Williams.
Williams had a productive first season with the Patriots. He recorded 10 receptions for 209 yards and three touchdowns. Although his production didn’t necessarily facilitate a lot of volume, he was still able to show his penchant for the big play. Washington State product is able to be a complementary playmaker on offense that was headlined by Stefon Diggs.
Patriots WR Generating Additional Buzz
Now, Williams is heading into year two. As Breer notes, several of Williams’ teammates appear to be high on the wide receiver.
“Players know who can play. And it feels to me like Kyle Williams has been, over the last six, seven, eight months, a guide that players have brought up as like, this guy is going to be pretty good.”
Patriots Buzz Has Grown Over Last Two Months
This buzz isn’t necessarily appearing out of thin air either. New acquisition A. J. Brown spoke highly of Williams last month, at Christian Gonzalez’s charity basketball game. Brown indicated that Williams has the potential to have a breakout season this year. This was certainly high praise from a veteran wideout, as the second-year playmaker looks to take flight.
When you look at his metrics, they certainly lend to the idea that he is a big-play receiver. Especially when you consider how little he was targeted last year, that certainly puts more value into his big-play stats. He averaged 20.9 yards per reception on 21 total targets. He had a 19.05 average depth of target on a 4.4% target share. These numbers also included a 48% catch rate according to data from Sumer Sports.
Breaking these numbers down even further, his target-per-route rate definitely spoke to his boom-or-bust ability. He averaged a 12.4% target-per-route rate, per RotoWire, which correlated with his low-volume, big-play ability.
It’s easy to see why the wide receiver is generating this buzz. He can take a ball into the end zone at any given moment. The opportunities were there for him last year; the volume was not. It’s hard to guarantee that the volume is going to be there with A.J. Brown as well. However, at least he has a full season under his belt and is able to show what he can do.
This is certainly going to be a big year for Williams. The Patriots historically have not had much success in drafting wide receivers. Williams could be the one to break that mold. He has the talent; It was seen at Washington State. Now it’s about building on it and putting it all together for 2026. Opportunity should be able to come his way, even with a loaded wide receiver room.
At the end of the day, he is going to have to stand out from the rest of the group to really make an impact. It will be interesting to see what he does.
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