The Unpacking Future Packers Countdown is a countdown of 100 prospects that could be selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The Green Bay Packers wide receiver room is likely to look a lot different when the 2022 season opens. Will they opt to make Davante Adams the highest-paid wide receiver in the league? Will they bring back Allen Lazard? Will deep threat Marquez Valdes-Scantling get a new deal this offseason?
There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the future outlook of the wide receiver position at 1265 Lombardi Avenue. The only certainty is that Brian Gutekunst will likely use multiple picks on the wide receiver position in the 2022 NFL Draft.
A player that Gutekunst could target in the first round as a possible future replacement for Davante Adams is Jameson Williams. The Alabama wide receiver checks in at No. 84 in the Unpacking Future Packers countdown.
Williams is the next Alabama wide receiver in line to be drafted in the first round. The Ohio State transfer finished the 2021 season with 79 receptions for 1,527 and 15 touchdowns. Williams had two kickoff return touchdowns and averaged 35.2 yards per return.
Prior to tearing his ACL in the National Championship Game, Williams reeled in four passes for 65 yards against Georgia. He finished the season with an SEC-leading 19.9 yards per reception.
“Jameson wound up winning a starting job and showed us from the very start he had the nutty speed to be a 90-yard touchdown threat on any given catch,” Brent Taylor, the editor for Roll Bama Roll, said. “He was a bit inconsistent early on, but his timely big plays wound up winning over most fans and earning him the affectionate nickname of “Jamo.” As the season wore on, we saw fewer drops and saw him get more involved in medium routes to move chains on 3rd downs, rather than just homerun plays.
In Alabama’s toughest, closest games, he was often a straw that broke the other team. When nothing else was working. just fling it to Jameson, and he’ll probably outrun everyone.”
Williams plays at a different speed than everybody else on the football field. The Alabama wide receiver just has a different gear. He’s naturally explosive and is able to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in a blink of an eye.
“Speed is his greatest strength,” Taylor said. “Watching him just evaporate pursuit angles from SEC defenders can be breathtaking.”
Williams is dynamic with the ball in his hands. With his 4.3 speed, he’s an absolute terror after the catch. He absolutely destroys pursuit angles.
“He’s fast,” Taylor said. “Seriously, you hit him on a mid-level crossing route underneath two safeties, and there’s a very real chance he beats them to the sideline and then torches them on the way to the endzone.
He’s not a guy that’s going to juke someone out of their shoes or break a bunch of tackles to get six yards on a screen pass that the defense sniffed out. But get the ball to him with a little bit of space, and he’s just gone.”
With his blazing speed he can take the top off a defense. He’s able to stack cornerbacks vertically and does a great job of selling double moves.
As a route runner, he’s able to burst in and out of his breaks without throttling down. He’s not a Jerry Jeudy-like technician as a route runner, but with his world-class speed, he doesn’t need to be.
“Surprisingly polished for someone that you might expect to just be a deep threat,” Taylor said. “He’s got a nasty curl route with a subtle feel for accelerating to make the defender change his pace right before stopping on a dime, and he’s adept at then turning that into a number of different double moves. He’s got a good feel for doing the same on a lot of shorter, in-breaking routes, using his ability to vary his speeds with no wasted steps to throw defenders off of him.
I wouldn’t expect him to do a lot of work out of the slot with whips and flag routes, though. His initial release and short-area burst aren’t anything special. But in terms of setting defenders up at the top of a route stem, he’s elite.”
Williams has all the tools in the shed to be the No. 1 wide receiver in the NFL. On top of that, he provides a ton of special teams value as a returner and gunner.
“The other big strength that I’ll mention is that he’s got a lot of energy, plays with max effort, and generally does a great job of getting fans and teammates excited,” Taylor said. “He’s a fiend of a gunner on special teams. Imagine waiting for a punt to drop out of the sky as this dude is flying past all of your blockers and looking for blood.”
Fit with the Packers
Speed kills and Williams destroyed SEC defenses this past season with his world-class speed.
“Football is an athletic sport based on outrunning people, and when your athlete can outrun all of your opponent’s athletes, you tend to score points,” Taylor said. “Obviously, there are instances of “track athletes” not making an impact as wide receivers, but with Williams, you’re talking about a guy with a good bit of football polish, a willingness to get physical, and solid wide receiver skills paired up with otherworldly speed.
If you made him a normal speed football player, he could still be a solid rotational wide receiver for an NFL team just on his route-running and special teams play.
Add the fact that he’s faster than pretty much anyone out there, and he’s a threat to make a game-changing play at any moment.”
2002. That’s the last time the Packers selected a wide receiver in the first round. Would they break that streak by selecting a wide receiver that will likely miss his entire rookie season with an ACL injury?
That all depends on what unfolds with Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. If the Packers opt to run it back with those two, it seems unlikely that they’d use a first-round pick on a player that wouldn’t be able to help them get over the hump.
Now, if the Packers opt to reload by trading Rodgers and moving on from Adams, they could draft Williams and stash him.
Williams would miss his rookie season but would become the go-to target for Jordan Love in 2023.
If it weren’t for his injury, Williams would have likely been drafted in the Top 20. Due to his injury, he could slide to the Packers in the backend of the first round.
The Packers don’t get many opportunities to add players of Williams’ ilk in the first round. The Alabama wide receiver is an absolute game-changer. If he’s there, Gutekunst will have a decision to make.
Select a player that could help them from day one? Or does he select a player that could help them down the road?
His track record shows that he’s more than okay with selecting players that won’t make an immediate impact.
