FOXBOROUGH - After watching their passing game struggle to create explosives for at least a couple of years, the Patriots are doing their damndest to ensure that's not a part of their 2025-26 story. To that end, the team used its first third-round pick, #69 overall, on wide receiver Kyle Williams.
Williams became one of college football's most dangerous pass catchers this fall at Washington State, hauling in 70 passes for nearly 1,200 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns.
"So. Much. Speed," texted a scout (Williams ran a 4.4 at the Combine). "You see it on his release; you see it with how quickly he eats up cushion. And then, even if he's covered at the top of the route, he explodes out of his break to create separation."
Williams came to Foxborough on a '30' visit. He remembers that it was cold and that his new head coach, Mike Vrabel, is a large human.
"I loved him," he smiled. "You know, a big dude. I mistaken him for an old lineman, but he's a linebacker. In my opinion, he could have went to the NBA. But a dude that loves the game, you can hear it in his voice, the passion that he comes with. He's a man of standard. He wants to work, and that's what I'm coming (to do)."
Williams is 5'10 1/2" and around 190 pounds. He has some positional versatility, spending 70% of the time lined up wide and 25% in the slot. He's not the tightest route runner, had some drop issues, and while a willing blocker, he's not very good at it. He'll have to clean some of that up, especially in a Josh McDaniels offense, but Williams has the playmaker ability the team craves and the 'want' to make those big plays happen.
"Being able to turn a 5-yard hitch into a 60-yard touchdown, a three-yard screen to a sixty-yard touchdown," he said when asked what he did to take his game to the next level. "Just being able to extend plays is something I really wanted to work in my game."
"He can be a #2 in this league," an wide receiver coach told me last week. "And with his speed, he'll have open space for others."
The 22-year-old spent the first three years of his college career at UNLV before transferring to WSU. In 2020, he was the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. He hurt his hamstring at the Combine, which kept him out of the school's pro day.
"I take pride in my craft," said Williams. "I feel like it's an art. So, you've got to really take pride in art. You have that attention to detail. You have to worry about the little things. And I worry about those small little details, and I try to correct them."
