I'm a Preston Williams fan. The undrafted wideout was having a big rookie season prior to tearing his ACL last year. He's coming off that serious injury, which is a negative, but he's been cleared for football activities. Will he be ready for Week 1? That's less certain.
At present, the team isn't promising he'll be available at the start of the season. Miami is building for the future and Williams is a part of that, so rushing him makes little sense. Doesn't look like anyone should draft him with the idea they'll have him in the lineup when the season starts.
But assuming all the updates we get out of his work in camp continue to be positive, he makes a lot of sense as a late-round pick who should be one of the team's top 2 wideouts once he's on the field. Miami has little alternative.
Albert Wilson and Allen Hurns were the other possibilities for major snaps, and they've opted out of the 2020 season. The team is kicking the tires on other veteran wideouts, but for now the rest of the depth chart is Isaiah Ford, Jakeem Grant, Mack Hollins and Gary Jennings. Reasonable to take a close interest in not only Williams, but an even stronger positive feeling for the healthy, experienced pass catchers on the team: DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki. Those guys are going to have to see a lot of targets, especially early on.
Circling back to Williams, he had a pretty impressive rookie season. In eight contests prior to getting hurt, he averaged nearly 12 PPR points per game. Among wide receivers to start at least half the time their first seasons in the last 10 years, that was a top-30 performance. Consider also that the Dolphins were messing around with Josh Rosen for several of those contests -- Williams didn't even get the benefit of working with Ryan Fitzpatrick for all of those.
| ROOKIE WIDEOUTS PER GAME, 2010-2019 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | G | Run | TD | Rec | Yds | TD | PPR | PPR/G |
| 2014 | Odell Beckham, NYG | 12 | 35 | 0 | 91 | 1305 | 12 | 297.0 | 24.8 |
| 2016 | Michael Thomas, N.O. | 15 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 1137 | 9 | 259.7 | 17.3 |
| 2014 | Mike Evans, T.B. | 15 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 1051 | 12 | 245.1 | 16.3 |
| 2011 | Julio Jones, Atl. | 13 | 56 | 0 | 54 | 959 | 8 | 203.5 | 15.7 |
| 2013 | Keenan Allen, S.D. | 15 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 1046 | 8 | 223.6 | 14.9 |
| 2011 | A.J. Green, Cin. | 15 | 53 | 0 | 65 | 1057 | 7 | 218.0 | 14.5 |
| 2014 | Kelvin Benjamin, Car. | 16 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 1008 | 9 | 227.8 | 14.2 |
| 2010 | Mike Williams, T.B. | 16 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 964 | 11 | 227.4 | 14.2 |
| 2017 | JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pitt. | 14 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 917 | 7 | 197.7 | 14.1 |
| 2014 | Brandin Cooks, N.O. | 10 | 73 | 1 | 53 | 550 | 3 | 139.3 | 13.9 |
| 2019 | Terry McLaurin, Was. | 14 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 919 | 7 | 191.9 | 13.7 |
| 2016 | Tyreek Hill, K.C. | 16 | 267 | 3 | 61 | 593 | 6 | 219.0 | 13.7 |
| 2019 | A.J. Brown, Ten. | 16 | 60 | 1 | 52 | 1051 | 8 | 217.1 | 13.6 |
| 2015 | Amari Cooper, Oak. | 16 | -3 | 0 | 72 | 1070 | 6 | 214.7 | 13.4 |
| 2018 | Calvin Ridley, Atl. | 16 | 27 | 0 | 64 | 821 | 10 | 208.8 | 13.1 |
| 2014 | Martavis Bryant, Pitt. | 10 | 12 | 0 | 26 | 549 | 8 | 130.1 | 13.0 |
| 2019 | Deebo Samuel, S.F. | 15 | 159 | 3 | 57 | 802 | 3 | 191.1 | 12.7 |
| 2014 | Jordan Matthews, Phil. | 16 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 872 | 8 | 202.2 | 12.6 |
| 2014 | Sammy Watkins, Buff. | 16 | 8 | 0 | 65 | 982 | 6 | 200.0 | 12.5 |
| 2012 | T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 15 | 29 | 0 | 50 | 861 | 7 | 187.0 | 12.5 |
| 2010 | Dez Bryant, Dall. | 12 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 561 | 6 | 149.1 | 12.4 |
| 2019 | Darius Slayton, NYG | 14 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 740 | 8 | 170.0 | 12.1 |
| 2019 | DK Metcalf, Sea. | 16 | 11 | 0 | 58 | 900 | 7 | 193.1 | 12.1 |
| 2017 | Cooper Kupp, LAR | 15 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 869 | 5 | 178.9 | 11.9 |
| 2014 | Jarvis Landry, Mia. | 16 | -4 | 0 | 84 | 758 | 5 | 189.4 | 11.8 |
| 2014 | Allen Robinson, Jac. | 10 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 548 | 2 | 116.8 | 11.7 |
| 2019 | Preston Williams, Mia. | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 428 | 3 | 92.8 | 11.6 |
| 2012 | Justin Blackmon, Jac. | 16 | 23 | 0 | 64 | 865 | 5 | 184.8 | 11.6 |
| 2016 | Sterling Shepard, NYG | 16 | 31 | 0 | 65 | 683 | 8 | 184.4 | 11.5 |
| 2015 | Stefon Diggs, Min. | 13 | 13 | 0 | 52 | 720 | 4 | 149.3 | 11.5 |
| 2011 | Torrey Smith, Balt. | 16 | 39 | 0 | 50 | 841 | 7 | 180.0 | 11.3 |
| 2011 | Denarius Moore, Oak. | 13 | 61 | 1 | 33 | 618 | 5 | 136.9 | 10.5 |
| 2015 | Tyler Lockett, Sea. | 16 | 20 | 0 | 51 | 664 | 6 | 167.4 | 10.5 |
| 2019 | Marquise Brown, Balt. | 14 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 584 | 7 | 146.4 | 10.5 |
| 2019 | Diontae Johnson, Pitt. | 16 | 41 | 0 | 59 | 680 | 5 | 167.1 | 10.4 |
| 2013 | Marlon Brown, Balt. | 14 | -2 | 0 | 49 | 524 | 7 | 145.2 | 10.4 |
| 2018 | Christian Kirk, Ariz. | 12 | 35 | 0 | 43 | 590 | 3 | 123.5 | 10.3 |
| 2019 | Hunter Renfrow, Oak. | 13 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 605 | 4 | 133.5 | 10.3 |
| 2013 | Tavon Austin, St.L. | 13 | 151 | 1 | 40 | 418 | 4 | 132.9 | 10.2 |
| 2018 | DJ Moore, Car. | 16 | 172 | 0 | 55 | 788 | 2 | 163.0 | 10.2 |
| 2013 | Cordarrelle Patterson, Min. | 16 | 158 | 3 | 45 | 469 | 4 | 161.7 | 10.1 |
| 2012 | Kendall Wright, Ten. | 15 | 4 | 0 | 64 | 626 | 4 | 151.0 | 10.1 |
| 2012 | Josh Gordon, Cle. | 16 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 805 | 5 | 160.5 | 10.0 |
Note that 2019 was some kind of year for rookie wideouts. More than 20 percent (9) of the 43 top rookies from the past decade in this regard came last season. A lot of those guys should be key players in fantasy leagues this season, and for several years to come.
Would be nice to see Williams on the field in August, and that would only happen in practices. But definitely a guy I'm interested in taking a flier on late in the drafts, on the idea he'll well outperform where he'll be selected.
--Andy Richardson