You always want to show off a shiny new toy right away.
It’s new! It’s exciting!
In Green Bay, third-round draft pick Savion Williams is one of the shiny new toys in Matt LaFleur’s offense. However, Packers fans will need to exercise some patience with the rookie.
When the Packers selected the do-it-all weapon from TCU, fans and armchair experts immediately flooded Packers social media with ideas about the variety of ways LaFleur can incorporate Williams into the offense.
In his final year with the Horned Frogs, Williams had as many receiving touchdowns (six) as rushing touchdowns. He had nine more receptions (60) than rushing attempts (51). TCU offensive coordinator Kendal Briles unlocked Williams and showed he’s not just a wide receiver. He’s best utilized as a Swiss Army knife.
Figuring out how to get Williams the ball in different ways won’t be a tall task for LaFleur. However, being patient with a pretty raw prospect may be trickier.
Williams is far from a polished wide receiver. He’ll make a spectacular catch in traffic on one play and drop a gimme on the next. “Untapped potential” was often used to describe Williams in multiple draft profiles.
Expecting Williams to command a wealth of opportunities early will lead to disappointment; that isn’t the route the Packers will take. The excitement is real, and the upside is tremendous. But it will take time.
Todd McShay elaborated on Williams and what drafting him means for the Packers. He described it as a chess piece for LaFleur, but one that will need time to develop.
“If we’re asking him to go be the X wide receiver Week 1 and he has to run the full route tree and all those things, I’m like, ‘Nah,’” McShay said on The McShay Report.
Have no fear, Packers fans. Green Bay isn’t doing this for the first time. That won’t be the blueprint the team has for Williams, and McShay agrees.
But in today’s NFL, with that coach (LaFleur) and with the other weapons at receiver and with that quarterback (Jordan Love), now we’ve just got this chess piece and you have no idea on Sunday how we’re going to roll him out. And he can help in the return game. They will get their value for him. I’m convinced of that. There were a handful of places I wanted to see him land in the NFL, and this is absolutely one of them.
LaFleur is one of the best coaches to help Williams bring it all together. Just look at his creativity in deploying wide receiver Jayden Reed.
A second-round pick in 2023, Reed has been used in the slot, on the outside, in the backfield, and is a constant when the Packers send a receiver in motion. LaFleur has found an endless number of ways to get Reed the ball. Imagine the same with Williams, who has a much bigger frame, even if he isn’t as polished as Reed coming out of college.
Williams is listed at 6’4”, 220 lbs. When we think of gadget players, we often think of smaller, shifty guys with a flash of speed.
That’s not Williams.
He’s a big body who doesn’t avoid contact. Once he gets going, he’s a bowling ball barreling toward the pins. Due to his versatility and unknown ceiling, he was one of the most intriguing prospects in this class, but he’s far from a guarantee.
Green Bay’s first-round selection, Matthew Golden, is much more polished. He’s way more crisp in his route running, and his route tree is levels beyond Williams’. Golden can potentially be a No. 1 wide receiver, which is why Green Bay used the No. 23 overall pick on him.
Williams can still offer things Golden can’t.
TCU used the “Frog package” in 2024, which revolved around Williams. They lined him up at running back, wide receiver, and even quarterback. The dude even had a passing touchdown among all his other noteworthy stats in 2024.
When you watch Williams’ highlight reel — and it’s a highlight reel for a reason — it’s easy to see why Packers fans are giddy about the selection. Some are trying to compare Williams’ potential to how the San Francisco 49ers used Deebo Samuel.
It’s fair in some sense, but Samuel is 6’0″, 210 lbs. Add four inches of height and 10 lbs., and then you have Williams. He’s truly a physical freak.
So remember that word “patience.”
If you talk boom-or-bust prospects, Williams lands in the category, if only because going to the wrong team could’ve resulted in him being misused. There’s little concern about that happening in Green Bay.
Williams is the new car, the new speaker, the new boat. What’s different in this scenario is that you have to be patient and slowly reveal it over time instead of going full throttle from Day 1.
The payoff should be worthwhile. Remember that patience when Williams has some quieter afternoons in the fall as a rookie.
