The Green Bay Packers are beat at the wide receiver position, and that could mean a real opportunity to see what rookie Savion Williams is capable of this Sunday.
On the way to week 8 Sunday Night Football In the matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Packers will be without Jayden Reed, who continues to recover from foot and collarbone injuries, and Dontayvion Wicks, who will miss Sunday’s game with an ankle issue that forced him out of several games early in the season.
Packers fans are hoping Christian Watson makes his season debut after recovering from a torn ACL, but even if he is cleared to play, he will likely be counted out in his first game less than a year after his injury.
This leaves the Packers with few options at receiver. Romeo Doubs will continue to be Jordan Love’s favorite target, while first-round rookie Matthew Golden will provide an explosive secondary threat in the passing game. However, outside of those two, Green Bay’s pass-catching options are limited. Malik Heath will likely see significant playing time, but with the way Pittsburgh is playing defense, it may finally be time to let Williams loose.
Williams played earlier this season, but was very rarely used in Green Bay’s offense. According to PFF, the third-round rookie has run just 22 routes this season, catching all four of his targets for 23 yards.
Matt LaFleur wasn’t afraid to use Williams in the running game, however. He had more carries than catches through six games, rushing six times for 27 yards on some creative concepts.
Much of Savion’s usage has been as a decoy, but his physical tools could make him an intriguing mismatch against a Steelers defense that runs heavy Man coverage, while also ranking 20th in defensive DVOA, according to FTN Fantasy.
Doubs and Golden, along with tight end Tucker Kraft, will feature heavily in the passing game, but this offense needs another option to help beat Man’s coverage Sunday night while pushing the field vertically. This is especially the case if Love has enough time in his pocket for long-developing plays if TJ Watt is ruled out due to his hip issue.
At the very least, Williams has the size and athletic ability to present a mismatch in Man coverage. At 6’3″ and 222 pounds, Williams posted a solid 40-yard dash time of 4.48 seconds with an elite 10-yard dash time of 1.53 seconds.
This type of mismatch can be beneficial against a secondary much more focused on other pass-catching options, and film showed Savion being used almost exclusively as a decoy in the passing game.
With that film, along with a rash of injuries at receiver, don’t be surprised if Williams finally gets a chance to make an impact in the passing game on Sunday.
