Ok, Here's My Pitch: Alabama WR Jameson Williams
Seaside Joe 1116: In a weak draft for QBs, an elite receiver would make more sense for the Seahawks than you think
Okay, here’s my pitch:
There’s the side of the family that wants the Seahawks to play it safe in the draft this year. Draft offensive line, defensive line, fullback, talk about “trenches” and “smash mouth”.
Then there’s the side that feels short-changed on their expected just rewards. “2022 was supposed to be my year! We were finally going to go out again!” And then what happens? The Seahawks trade Russell Wilson and cut Bobby Wagner. They don’t want to hear anything about “red flags” and “weaknesses” and don’t come anywhere near them with “development time.” Just draft a quarterback.
But then sitting in the middle of this family tug-o-war is a twice-removed cousin named Joe and as he’s daring to cut the rope in half to end this standoff once and for all, he whispers: “What about Jameson Williams?”
A receiver who in two years we might be calling “the best player to come out of the 2022 NFL Draft.”
Just as we do for Justin Jefferson and 2020. Just as we’ve been doing with Ja’Marr Chase. There would be a vast space between Williams and the next-best wide receiver in the 2022 draft if not for an ACL tear in January, and if the Seahawks did pick him in the first round this year he might become Seattle’s best wideout by 2024.
Even if they keep Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf.
That’s how good Jameson Williams can be in the NFL and the Seahawks want to build an offense similar to the three-receiver sets we saw in the Super Bowl between the Rams and the Bengals. So please before you call me crazy and ask “Who are you even related to at this family reunion, Joe?”, hear out my pitch.
This is NOT my 2022 draft endorsement. Only a pitch to find out if he could make sense or not.
Jameson Williams is the fastest offensive player in the draft (maybe)
“I just know nobody could run with me,” Williams said Wednesday. “I don’t know no 40 time. I just know nobody could run with me. Just say whatever the fastest 40 time here is -- I’m faster.”
A high school track star (set Missouri state record in the hurdles), Williams has often been referred to as one of the fastest receivers in college football and this draft. It may be unfair of me to even say “one of the” and if he didn’t tear his ACL, it’s been said he could at least challenge in the low-4.4 range, if not beating out former Ohio State teammates Garrett Wilson (4.38) and Chris Olave (4.39).
But we’ll never know if he could have challenged 4.30 due to his knee injury and a low number like that is possible because he was undeniably as fast in the games as any receiver in college:
Compared to Ted Ginn coming out of high school, Williams got a little buried on the depth chart at Ohio State (understandably so—receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba could be the first non-QB drafted next year) and used the transfer portal to his advantage to land at the other school that gets all of the quarterbacks and receivers now: Alabama.
He may not beat Henry Ruggs III’s 4.27 but Williams’ elite speed combined with elite stop-go acceleration and ability to control his speed to create incomparable separation is what makes him a much better receiver prospect than Ruggs.
It’s the pick everyone will hate and everyone will love
Assuming they have held onto DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett up to the draft, the Seahawks would first get an audacious reception of “What has Pete Carroll been chewing?” should they pick a wide receiver in the first round. But that would immediately be followed by the calming realization that the Seahawks drafted a premium wide receiver prospect for only the third time in franchise history.
Joey Galloway, eighth overall in 1995.
Koren Robinson, ninth overall in 2001.
Those are the only first round receivers that Seattle has ever drafted. And I think we were all pretty fond of Joey Galloway.
Pete Carroll’s harshest critics would feel the blow of not drafting a “position of need” softened by the fact that at least the Seahawks took a “position of excitement.” More than that, Jameson Williams has almost nothing on his resume that your average “I’m smart and I’m on NFL Twitter” user could criticize. They’d be criticizing a knee injury and that’s not really “PC” to do these days.
(Pete Carroll.)
If the Seahawks make a pick that people both love and hate, then the people who both love and hate what the Seahawks are doing will end up satisfied.
Jameson Williams is the best receiver in the draft
Williams took over Jaylen Waddle’s role in Alabama’s offense last year and while it is unfair to directly compare the two, I think this is worth pointing out: Waddle had 106 catches for 1,999 yards and 17 touchdowns over 34 career starts at Alabama.
Williams had 79 catches for 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns in 14.5 starts at Alabama.
Definitely not fair to compare them directly, but even at a program like Alabama, Williams stands up as one of the all-time best receiver seasons in school history.
A criticism would be that there will be plenty of good receiver talent on day two. Look back at 2020 and again reconsider how vast the difference can be between Justin Jefferson and Laviska Shenault; or even a very good player in Chase Claypool.
Williams has rare traits that help him get separation, get open, and create routes that make him impossible to defend sometimes. He’s not quite as big as Cooper Kupp, but the football IQ comparison could be made. Tyreek Hill’s trade on Wednesday again emphasized the league’s obsession with speed like a “late stage Al Davis.” He’s productive, he’s got no character red flags, he’s even got the type of personality that could make him a true NFL TV star in the future.
Setting aside whether or not the Seahawks should draft a receiver at all and pretending we’re talking about “TEAM” here: TEAM is going to see a considerable drop-off between an elite receiver prospect like Williams and an enticing, but less polished prospect like SECOND ROUND PICK. The gap between him and the next two or three receivers might be small… I’m just curious when Seattle will finally attempt to find their own Ja’Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson.
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He actually does fit a need. A rather important one.
As I said earlier, teams need at least three starting wide receivers. After both Robert Woods and Odell Beckham Jr. tore their ACLs at different points of the season, even the deep-roster Rams found out that sometimes three is not enough.
For every year that Shane Waldron was with the Rams, the team kept at least a trio of receiving stars: first they added Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and Sammy Watkins in 2017. Then traded out Watkins for Brandin Cooks. Then traded Cooks and drafted Van Jefferson with the pick they received. Then they drafted Tutu Atwell at the same draft position a year later. Then added Woods, then OBJ, and most recently, Allen Robinson.
Always at least three receivers. The Bengals, whose head coach also used to work for McVay, also employ three high-end receivers.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers employed three high-end receivers during their 2020 Super Bowl season.
If you haven’t noticed lately, what with the contracts and the trades and all the first round picks used on them, receivers are quite valuable.
DK Metcalf is in a contract year and I think drafting Williams would only solidify that Seattle must extend Metcalf and pair them together for a long time. Lockett turns 30 in September, it’s only business to be prepared for the future. Dee Eskridge hasn’t put anything on the field yet that should prevent a team from adding a wide receiver who could potentially be an All-Pro.
It’s not that on an individual basis that any of these three receivers couldn’t be back with the Seahawks in 2023. But when you look for the odds that all three will be around for 2023, or that all three will be around for 2024, those are actually quite low.
Where Williams could struggle is that his 6’1, 190 lb frame is more suited to play in the slot, but there is where his run blocking struggles become a problem. However, in Waldron’s offense, and with Williams’ football intelligence and speed, he could play a Robert Woods’ role for Seattle. That’s a need right now and also in the future.
I actually find nothing illogical about the Seahawks drafting a great wide receiver prospect at this stage, with or without a corresponding wide receiver transaction. What would be surprising is if the Seahawks took that great receiver over a great tackle or a great quarterback or a great edge rusher…
I’m not sure Seattle will run into that problem.
The first round of the 2022 draft is primed for a lot of busts
I have tracked the 2022 NFL Draft class for the last year and though many of us were waiting for some prospects to pop, few outside of Aidan Hutchinson came through. Some of those who appeared to come through, even the likes of Kyle Hamilton, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Evan Neal, have for various reasons been knocked down a peg through the pre-draft process.
Usually by now we have a better sense of how the beginning of the draft will fall, but so far I think 2022 feels a lot like the 2013 NFL Draft. It was also a year without any highly-rated quarterback prospects. Three of the top four picks were tackles (Eric Fisher, Luke Joeckel, Lane Johnson) but nobody was proclaiming any of those players to become the next Orlando Pace or Walter Jones. I think Russell Okung, the sixth overall pick in 2010, would have easily been the number one pick in 2013.
We know for a fact that some draft classes turn out as poorly as 2013 did. If you knew ahead of this draft that the majority of the picks would turn into huge disappointments, would you still tune in? (The ninth pick in 2013 was Dee Milliner.)
There were a lot of surprises during the 2013 draft because there weren’t many first round prospects who seemed like slam dunks, so teams were maybe playing with a little extra “house money” that year.
Mock drafts for the 2022 draft seem vastly different from one another, I think there could be a lot of surprises because the class is that weak.
So why not use that house money on a player who I believe would have gone in the top-ten, if not top-five, if he didn’t injure his knee three months ago?
Yes, I do believe that Jameson Williams carries some injury concerns. I also think that his size could present an issue. His run-blocking might never get better and he might never add weight. And if Justin Jefferson or Odell Beckham Jr or Devante Adams didn’t carry any red flags or weaknesses, they would have been top-five picks.
Would you rather see the Seahawks draft a QB with a really high ceiling and a really low floor? An offensive tackle with a high floor and a low ceiling? Or a wide receiver with a high floor and a high ceiling?
Jameson Williams is currently being projected somewhere in the second half of the first round, so it’s plausible that a team in the top-15 could trade down and be able to draft him as late as the 20s. However, it is also possible that as one of the only true standout football players at a premium position in an overall weak draft class that Williams will go much earlier than 15. Maybe even top-10.
“I’m not sure what it did to my draft stock. I hope it didn’t hurt it. But hopefully a team still takes a shot at me and drafts me.”
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I would be very happy with this scenario, keeping DK, and Tyler is a huge part of it. This will still allow Dee Eskridge to grow this summer and fall.
The Seahawks look to be setting themselves up nicely for an all out assault on the class of 2023. The Russell separation anxiety, reloading the team will take time. I think if the Hawks take the best player available at all positions but safety, we will be playoff bound next season.
One road block, and it's not a criticism, Pete Carroll insatiable appetite to win. Honestly I can see us being a 7 win team which could flip by 2 games. If it somehow went to nine wins its because Drew Lock got a fresh start and took advantage of it.
It means Clint Hurt and his staff will have an emidiate effect on every D player. If I was sure of one thing it is Clint Hurt. I remember the game last year when he came out of the booth and to the sidelines for the second half last year. We emediatley got pass rush and got off the field.
Take the best player available this year !
In the moment, yeah, I think I might have tuned into the 2013 draft had I known the outcome. Mostly for schadenfreude reasons I guess.