• Kyle Williams saved his best performance for last: Williams caught 10 passes for 172 yards in Washington State’s bowl game against Syracuse.
• The New England Patriots have several options: The Patriots have five of their wide receivers from last season and added two veteran starters and Williams, making for a very competitive training camp at the position.
• Final chance to claim 25% off PFF+: Use code DRAFT25 and unlock access to player grades, fantasy tools and the 2025 Draft Guide.

Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

PFF’s Fantasy Football Player Profile series delivers the most in-depth fantasy football analysis available for the 2025 season.

Using PFF’s exclusive data, we evaluate player performance, competition for touches and how teammates and coaching staffs will impact each player’s fantasy football outlook.

Last updated: 7:15 a.m. Friday, May 2

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Player performance

Kyle Williams spent three seasons at UNLV, putting up some solid per-game numbers but only average numbers per-route. He transferred to Washington State and followed a similar pattern, initially. In 2024, he stepped up his game, leading to a higher target rate and ultimately more cumulative stats despite running fewer routes.

While Williams improved in his final season, a big reason for the improved stats was the level of competition. Williams played 10 games against Power-Five teams in 2023 compared to four in 2024. He gained 21 yards against Texas Tech and 22 yards against Washington early in the season. He benefited greatly from Washington State’s bowl game, where he caught 10 passes for 172 yards against Syracuse. His yards per route run increased from 1.77 to 2.5 against Power-Five opponents.

Williams is an undersized receiver at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds. He’s in the bottom 20th percentile in both arm length and hand size. He played primarily on the outside throughout his college career. Typically, receivers of his size are great against zone defense and struggle against man, but that was the opposite for Williams. He wasn’t given many opportunities out of the slot, but he thrived when given the opportunity.

Projected role

The Patriots will have a large competition for playing time and targets among their wide receivers. New England retained its top four wide receivers in routes run from last season, as well as 2024 fourth-round pick Javon Baker. New England added free agents Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins, who have typically been starters in recent seasons. Williams gives New England an eighth wide receiver. There are several combinations of three receivers who could be starting and it wouldn’t be surprising.

Diggs signed a three-year, $63 million contract and will be a starter if he’s healthy. DeMario Douglas has been the second-most successful wide receiver on the roster in recent seasons. Both Kendrick Bourne and Mack Hollins set career-highs in receiving yards in the one year they each played in Josh McDaniels’ offense – Bourne in 2021 and Hollins in 2022 with the Las Vegas Raiders. None of this is good news for the recent Patriots draft picks from the previous regimes. It’s possible that Diggs won’t be healthy, or that Williams plays well enough to surpass others on the depth chart.

A lot of the wide receivers have position versatility, but most have experience in the slot. Many players possess the size to be an X receiver, without anyone being limited to an X role. Because of this, New England should have the flexibility to start whoever they feel are the best three players.

While many are excited by Williams’ landing with the Patriots, it’s also worth remembering that it’s rare for a third-round wide receiver to make a major contribution in their rookie season. Of the 23 who received any playing time as a rookie in the last five seasons, 15 were held under 250 receiving yards. The only three who reached over 500 yards were all from the 2023 class – Josh Downs, Tank Dell and Michael Wilson.

Impact of teammates

The Patriots have Josh McDaniels as their offensive coordinator. McDaniels had pass-heavy teams in the past with Tom Brady and run-heavy teams with the Las Vegas Raiders and Josh Jacobs. The constants has been personnel versatility and not having a need to rely in 11 personnel. This should continue to be the case with dependable tight ends Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper.

Williams will be catching passes from one of the most accurate passers in the NFL. He didn’t throw to wide receivers often last year, but that likely had more to do with the wide receivers on the roster than it did Maye. He had a relatively low rate of targeted attempts per dropback, largely from a willingness to scramble but also from taking a decent amount of sacks. This might not change, which works against all of the receivers for the Patriots.

Bottom line

The Patriots invested significant draft capital on Williams, and they don’t have clear starting wide receivers. This seems like a scenario for Williams to succeed, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Patriots lean more on veterans this year and give Williams a year or two to grow before becoming a starter. He’s a fine late round dart throw in case he becomes a starter sooner than expected.

Footnotes

• Statistics in tables and charts were chosen based on their ability to predict future fantasy performance on a per-game or per-opportunity basis or to describe the player relative to others at the same position.
• “Opportunities” are defined as passing dropbacks, rushing attempts and routes run as a receiver.
• Numbers are provided either by season or based on the past three years. For rookies, only college statistics are included. For non-rookies, only NFL statistics are considered, regardless of whether they played in college within the previous three years.
• As college competition is easier than NFL competition, most rookies are likely to see a decline from their historical numbers.
• Only FBS data is considered for college players and comparisons.
• Kneel-downs are removed from rushing data to provide cleaner quarterback rushing rate statistics.
• The table colors in this article range from blue (indicating good/high) to red (indicating bad/low).
• All percentiles and color codings compare the given player to others with a high sample of opportunities. Generally, the cutoff is one-third of the possible opportunities in the sample. If a player does not meet the threshold, they are still included in the comparison, though their results may appear better or worse than expected due to the smaller, less predictive sample size.
• Information on utilization classifications and their importance can be found here for running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.