2019 Jets Free Agency Profile: Tyrell Williams

Welcome to the 2019 Jets Free Agency Profile series! Up until the start of the 2019 free agency period in March, I’ll be running through a bunch of names the Jets could potentially bring in with their hoard of cap space. Let’s get into it!

Name: Tyrell Williams

Birthday/Age: February 12th, 1992 (age 27 on September 1st)

Height/Weight: 6’4, 205

FA type: Unrestricted

College: Western Oregon (signed by the Chargers as an undrafted free agent following the 2015 draft)

Team(s): Chargers (2015-18)

Position/usage: Typically an X receiver, sometimes lines up in the slot or as a Z receiver but usually is lined up on the line of scrimmage

2018 stats: 16 games, 41 catches, 65 targets, 653 yards, 5 touchdowns. 63.1% catch rate, 15.9 yards per reception, 10.04 yards per target

Playoffs: 2 games, 7 catches, 11 targets, 103 yards, 0 touchdowns

Previous salary: 2018 second-round restricted free agent tender, $2.9M cap hit

Spotrac Market Value: $9.6M/year (would currently be 23rd highest at wide receiver)

Jets connections: None notable

Measurables (Pro Day): 4.43 forty, 6.47 three cone, 4.17 twenty yard shuttle, 39.5” vertical

Pros:

• Elite downfield big play threat. Since he entered the league in 2015, Williams is 5th in yards per target among the 113 players with at least 200 targets, with a sparkling 9.81 average. He trails only Julio Jones, Tyreek Hill, Tyler Lockett, and Rob Gronkowski

• When Philip Rivers threw it to him, the result was usually positive. Good per-target efficiency numbers across the board. Above 40% first down rate each of the past three seasons, including a career-best 46% in 2018. DVOA ranks of 4th in 2016, 15th in 2017, and 24th in 2018
• 42 receptions for 20+ yards since 2016, 13th most in the league over that span. 27.5% of Williams’ receptions since 2016 have gone for 20+ yards, clobbering the overall league average of 8.9%
• Had a very strong 2016 season with Keenan Allen out for the majority of the year. 4th in wide receiver DVOA, 69 catches for 1059 yards and 7 touchdowns, zero fumbles
• Robby Anderson will be a restricted free agent, so the team could find themselves needing an outside receiver. The team would be smart to bring Anderson back, as he is a capable outside weapon, but they could still stand to add another receiver who has proven capable of making plays outside over the course of full seasons. Quincy Enunwa is a versatile piece that is capable of thriving outside, but he hasn’t proven he can be a threat in that spot consistently. Having another capable X receiver in addition to Anderson (assuming he returns) could be a useful cog to possess. For the most part, you can never really add too many weapons, especially when your team just fielded the league’s 29th ranked DVOA offense
• Has not missed an NFL game due to injury

Cons:

• Playing devil’s advocate to my previous point regarding the Williams/Anderson combo. If Anderson does return, Williams seems to have a very redundant skillset to him. Both are slender and speedy deep threats who lack an all-around game. Among the 98 wide receivers with 100+ receptions since 2016, Williams and Anderson rank 96th and 98th in BMI (body mass index), respectively. Adam Gase’s Miami offense had problems in the screen game due to the inability of the team’s small receiving core to block effectively.

Williams would be a very nice Robby Anderson replacement. But do the Jets see a way Williams can make the team better on a roster that includes Anderson?

• Boom or bust player. Had 23 yards or fewer in 10 of the 18 games he played this season. Had 31 yards or fewer in 8 of the 16 games he played in 2017. Makes the huge yardage plays but has very few consistently productive games. Zero 4+ first down performances in 2018, only two in 2017. That’s two 4+ first down games out of 32 regular season games played over the last two seasons - in comparison, Quincy Enunwa had three such games in his down 2018 campaign. Even Jermaine Kearse had two in 2018