After Romeo Doubs departed in free agency and the Green Bay Packers traded Dontayvion Wicks to the Philadelphia Eagles, they will have to lean on Matthew Golden and Savion Williams to step up and fill that void. Today, the focus turns to Williams and what should realistically be expected from him heading into the 2026 season.
Savion Williams finished his rookie season with 10 receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown, ranking 13th on the team in targets and 12th in catches. His production was limited, but so was his role. To be fair, Williams was used mostly as a gadget player throughout the year. Meanwhile, Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, and Dontayvion Wicks carried the bulk of the workload throughout the season.
“We always talk about, the only thing that limits you in terms of your creativity is your imagination,” Matt LaFleur said about Williams after the 2025 draft. “We’ll get back in the lab and come up with some good things for him.”
“I was super impressed,” he added. “He was one of the guys we had in for a 30 visit. We had a great visit with him. He was very intelligent. I think he’ll be a guy who can handle the load, not just as a prototypical outside receiver. He’ll be a movable chess piece that we can find different ways to put him in advantageous situations for us to get him the football.”
I expect the Packers to continue using the former third-round pick in a gadget role. Brian Gutekunst’s management of the wide receiver room this offseason points to a fairly clear structure for 2026: Watson and Golden on the outside, Jayden Reed in the slot, and Williams as the hybrid, do-it-all piece.
That said, the coaching staff will also likely begin to mix in more traditional receiver responsibilities for Williams. Injuries are part of the game, and he’ll likely be the next in line to step up and take on a larger role in the offense if someone goes down.
His development as a true receiver is going to be a big focus for Green Bay. There just aren’t many receivers built like Williams who can also move the way he does. If they can clean up his route running and make him more consistent catching the ball, he has the tools to form a borderline unstoppable duo with Watson.
“He’s a huge man, but his determination, his ability, his elusiveness, his power, his ability to break tackles, I just thought those were the first things that stuck out to you,” Gutekunst said of Williams after the draft.
“Because they moved him all around in different ways, I thought there was a little bit of a rawness to his game as far as the polish as a route-runner, and things like that,” he added. “But his ability to create separation and get behind guys vertically and catch the football, all those things I think, he just really seemed to fit what we’re trying to do.”
The Packers will likely be patient with Williams, but the reality is his role will grow whether they plan for it or not. With Doubs and Wicks gone, there will be opportunities up for grabs in the passing game.
That naturally pushes Savion Williams beyond just being a gadget option and into a more consistent role within the offense, where they’ll ask him to contribute as an actual receiving threat rather than just a complementary piece.
