5 Wide Receivers Who Drastically Outperformed Their Teammates in 2018
Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers
The guy currently going right after Boyd on DRAFT is Mike Williams. His situation bears plenty of resemblance to Boyd's, and he may be in line for additional opportunities in 2019.
The big similarity between Williams and Boyd is that their statistical supremacy does not necessarily imply they are their team's best receiving option. For the Los Angeles Chargers, that's Keenan Allen, and he's still going to get fed going forward. But Williams' metrics this year showed he was worthy of being on the field alongside Allen.
Here's a breakdown of the metrics for the Chargers' top three receivers this year. Again, Allen was good -- as was Tyrell Williams -- but Mike Williams was just unstoppable.
| In 2018 | Targets | Target NEP | Target NEP per Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keenan Allen | 137 | 66.57 | 0.49 |
| Mike Williams | 66 | 52.00 | 0.79 |
| Tyrell Williams | 64 | 26.96 | 0.42 |
Even though Mike and Tyrell had almost the same number of targets, Mike produced almost twice as many expected points. This was despite the fact that the two were separated by only one deep target (23 for Tyrell, 22 for Mike). Things just worked out better when Mike was the one getting the ball.
On the one hand, Williams will have to deal with Hunter Henry next year as he returns from his torn ACL. But Tyrell Williams is a free agent, which should lock Mike into the team's second wide receiver role.
Williams was the seventh overall pick in the NFL Draft just two years ago, he has a highly efficient quarterback, and he showed last year that he's capable of beating NFL cornerbacks. We can't push him too high up draft boards because he'll still be competing with Allen, Henry, and Melvin Gordon for targets, but there's quite a bit to like about what he offers in 2019.
