Draft Analysis: Isaiah Williams

April 18, 2024 /
  • Height: 5’9″
  • Weight: 182 lb.
  • College: Illinois
  • Tape watched: Indiana (2022), Nebraska (2022), Kansas
  • NFL Comparison: Greg Dortch

Pros

  • Agility/Acceleration

Isaiah Williams is a very twitchy athlete. What makes him special is his ability to cut on a dime and quickly accelerate through small gaps in pursuit.

  • YAC

Hand in hand with his agility, Williams translates this with the ball in his hands. He disappears among the masses and finds lanes to explode through. Forcing 51 tackles in his final two seasons at Illinois, Williams is a savant at picking up extra yards.

Midline

  • Route Running

Williams often ran his stems too deep and gave up leverage to cornerbacks. He is a proficient route runner making horizontal cuts. He creates separation on route breaks but never pulls away from defenders with speed. He is best as a primary read where the ball can be thrown with anticipation of his break.

Williams’ sole job on this route should be to protect the pass. He never tries to bend in front of the receiver and shield him until it’s too late.
  • Hands

Six drops in 127 targets isn’t a terrible number for Williams, but for someone who will need to be efficient with his opportunities in the NFL, he has room for improvement. Williams has a lot of body catches on film.

Short arming passes from a slot receiver is a recipe for disaster in the NFL
  • Release

Rarely faced with press coverage in the slot, Williams has a decent enough skill set to shake physical defenders. He has great footwork, and his smaller size actually assists him in staying low and avoiding contact.

Cons

  • Size

13th percentile or worse in height, weight, wingspan, and arm length, Isaiah Williams has a long road to success in the NFL. His catch radius is hindering at the NFL level. He struggles to catch the ball away from his body.

  • Deep Speed

For someone as explosive and twitchy and Isaiah Williams, he lacks speed to threaten downfield. Under 20% of his receptions happened past the first down markers.

Overview

Isaiah Williams’ size and speed profile is a major concern heading into the draft. He projects as a slot-only receiver who will have to cut his teeth on special teams to make a roster. He has replacement level value in the slot, but there isn’t much more upside than that.