A Close Look at the Early Success of Rookie Mike Williams
by LeeCaz on Nov 3, 2010 10:00 AM EDT
Email
Print
Yesterday a co-worker walked up to me and thanked me for telling him about Mike Williams before the season started. I guess he (like many of us Bucs Nation members did I expect) took a late round flier on the rookie from Syracuse in his fantasy draft. He had drafted Chad Ocho Cinco as his second receiver, and his subsequent disappearance from the Bengals' offense was made much easier to deal with by having Mike Williams step into that role for his team. I simply gave him a smug "I told ya so" grin, but in reality I had to remind myself that not even I expected this young man to play as spectacularly as he has this season.
By now we've all surely heard the hoopla about Mike Williams leading all rookies in receiving, but what we haven't really heard about is how he stacks up versus all his peers. Right now Williams is amongst the top twenty of receivers and tight ends in both yardage and touchdown catches. His 470 yards put him 20th amongst his peers, and only six of those top twenty players can boast a better yards per catch average than Williams' 14.7.
His four touchdowns make him tied for 17th in the NFL. The one stat that Williams is probably not proud of is his three fumbles on the season. This puts him at the top of the list along with Chicago's RB Matt Forte. Obviously rookies make mistakes and I have no doubt that Williams will learn to protect the ball moving forward.
Could anyone have predicted this kind of success? Williams was an instant hit once he joined the Buccaneers and some draftniks had him rated as high as the #2 receiver on the board after Dez Bryant. Looks like those guys were right. Not a single issue has arisen with Williams' so called "character issues" we heard so much about before and after the draft, and I have to give kudos to Tampa Bay Buccaneer GM Mark Dominik for seeing the light and drafting this guy.
Now that Williams has reached the century mark in yardage for the first time in his career I can only expect him to trend upwards on this list of statistics rather than downwards. I think his production thus far is more than sustainable and if he obtains a mere thirty yards next week versus the Falcons he will be on pace to reach 1,000 yards his rookie year. No matter which way you look at the anomaly that is Mike Williams, you can't help but be impressed by this.
What do you think Bucs Nation? Are you as impressed with this young man as I am?
17 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I am very impressed
with this young man. He is exciting to watch and seems to be a player you can count on to make a play when you need him to. I can only hope he continues to grow and be a impact player for years to come.
I can only hope he doesn't turn into M.C.
Lets remember Clayton had a bad ass rookier season too…It pains me to even think about that.
Clayton's emergence was more because we literally didn't have anyone else to throw to
The receiving corp was devastated by injury that year. Clayton was also more of a possession receiver rather than a playmaker even back then. I think Williams will have a long and fruitful career barring any serious injury of course.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
I was really shocked he fell that far in the draft.
Just from watching him play against USF I knew this guy was good, should have been a first rounder.
I'm not negative, I'm just telling you how it is.
We have absolutely no reason to think that whatsoever.
The kid broke curfew in college. Big deal. He’s a grown man and obviously kept himself in football shape after leaving Syracuse. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." ~ Mark Twain
He came into camp and did what he said: work hard, be a good teammate, not be a problem and show that he was a first round talent
and he has!
by tjbrays on Nov 3, 2010 11:19 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
^ this
A ton of players often come in saying all the right things, the literally do the opposite. So many “I told ya so” types of stories out there about such players, but Mike Williams is indeed the exception. He said he would come in, work hard, not be a problem, and produce. And he’s done it. Bravo.
The he's definitely the prize of our 2010 draft...
and not Gerald McCoy. Now if Benn could work out…
Benn has shown flashes
If he can turn the flashes into consistent production then we’ve really got something going here.
Very impressed as well
Our receiving group has gone from hideously awful to the cusp of greatness is such a short time that it is staggering. I think it only gets better from here too.
Impressed with the receiver corps as a whole
Benn’s improving, Spurlock looks pretty good and Williams has been awesome so far.
And Freeman looks the real deal too.
This offense is gonna cause some some sleepless nights around the league at this rate.
If they carry on progressing as they are the offense will be explosive as opposed to the old offenses that just stayed in games that the D basically won.
NFC South back to being one of the toughest divisions sooner rather than later :)
A lot of the new talent from the past two drafts are working out well.
At some point this season someone needs to repost a few preseason articles including the comment sections.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
SBNation.com Recent Stories
In Association With
Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
- All reports positive after Peyton Manning’s first OTA in Denver
- Ryan Tannehill won’t start right away, according to Dolphins’ owner
- Lions WR Titus Young barred from practice after starting fight with teammate
- Winslow move could be a costly one for Bucs in the short term
- Matthew Stafford spends $15,000 to win auction package, then gives it to a young fan’s family
