GREEN BAY, Wis. – Former TCU receiver Savion Williams, the Green Bay Packers’ third-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft, has elite physical ability. Why is he going to turn all of that potential into production in the NFL?

“When this kid puts his mind to something, he’s like a dog chasing a ball, man,” TCU receivers coach and former NFL receiver Malcolm Kelly told Packers On SI. “He’s just going to be super-persistent, professional, do things the right way, and I think those things will serve him well in his NFL journey.”

At Marshall (Texas) High School, Williams moved from receiver to quarterback for his senior season. He was a three-star recruit and the No. 98 receiver in his class, according to On3. At TCU, his production went from one catch in 2020 to six in 2021 to 29 in 2022, when the Horned Frogs advanced to the national championship game, to 41 in 2023.

“I just saw his ability with the ball in his hands,” Kelly said. “He’s 6-4, 200 pounds coming out of high school and he’s sticking his foot in the ground and spinning off of guys in the hole. Guys that size usually don’t have that ability to stop and start. They aren’t as well-versed as he is in that size package.

“When I got him to college, it was a learning curve at first, but he played as a freshman and got some valuable experience as a freshman. And his confidence just grew through the years. These last three years, it’s just been a steep, upward trend of him getting better and better every single year.”

As a fifth-year senior in 2024, Williams was voted a team captain by his teammates, with Williams’ personal growth “exciting to watch” for Kelly.

Midway through the season, the Horned Frogs were sputtering along with a 3-3 record when they made a bold change of direction on offense. Williams would become the centerpiece of the offense as a receiver and wildcat quarterback.

“You’re asking a kid who plays receiver, ‘Hey, you’re going to be a draft pick receiver but, oh, by the way, we want you to line up in the backfield and we’re going to direct snap it to you and we want you to run between the tackles at times.’ Most receivers will look at you and say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’” Kelly said.

“This dude is the ultimate team guy. He just wants to win, and he knows deep down that he can do things that a lot of guys can’t do. For us, we got to the point midway through the season, we were struggling at the time to run the ball and we just needed to change things up. And we said, ‘You know what? How can we guarantee that our best player touches the ball? OK, well, this is how we can guarantee it. Direct snap it to him. It guarantees the ball is in his hands.’”

After carrying the ball three times in the first six games, he had 48 carries for 310 yards and six touchdowns down the stretch to help the team win five of its final six games of the regular season.

Expanding Williams’ role was great for the team, and it was a change he embraced, even though it didn’t necessarily help his draft stock to lose some game and practice reps at receiver.

TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver Savion Williams (3) catches a touchdown against Oklahoma State. Williams was the Packers’ third-round draft pick. / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

“This is what I told him,” Kelly said. “I said, ‘You put good stuff on tape as a wideout, so they’ve seen some of the crazy catches, they’ve seen your route-running ability, they’ve seen different things. In the NFL, they’re going to look at 15 guys that are 6-4, 215 pounds.’ I said, ‘What do you do to separate yourself from those other 15 guys?’ I was like, ‘When you show people that you have this type of ability with the ball in your hands, you add more value.’

“We all just preached that’s the value add of letting people see you do more things. He bought into it and it was good. There was never a, ‘Oh, I’m not going to do this.’ It was like, ‘OK, Coach, cool, show me how I’m going to get the ball.’ It was never, ‘Hey, I’m not going to do this,’ or, ‘This is going to mess up my draft stock.’ It was never that. The kid is a dude from a small town in East Texas. He’s a country boy who loves to ride horses and fish and play ball. That’s who he is.”

“It’s ridiculous, man. His athleticism is out of this world. There’s a lot underneath the hood of that kid and they don’t come in that package.”

– TCU receivers coach Malcolm Kelly

Williams also is a playmaker. In 2024, according to Pro Football Focus, he caught 60 passes, averaged 6.9 yards after the catch and forced 18 missed tackles, and he carried the ball 51 times, averaged 4.2 yards after contact and forced 22 missed tackles.

With size to power through tacklers and a wicked spin move, he was a human highlight reel. At 6-foot-3 7/8, he’s a matchup problem at receiver. At 222 pounds, he’s an open-field problem.

“It’s ridiculous, man,” Kelly said. “His athleticism is out of this world. There’s a lot underneath the hood of that kid and they don’t come in that package. You either have small guys who are shifty, big dudes who are more possession-type guys, but you hardly ever get a blend of the two, and that’s exactly what he is.”

Kelly called Williams a “coach’s dream,” a “yes, sir, no, sir” player who was the hardest worker in the weight room and the practice field.

A test for any football player is how he’ll react when times get tough. Williams has endured tough times. His daughter, Legacy, was born six weeks premature in 2023. She had two surgeries in her first three months, including heart surgery on the first day of TCU’s training camp.

The mentality, paired with the physical skill, is why Williams will have a successful NFL career, Kelly said.

“I think because now, No. 1, it’s his job and it’s going to be football all day long. But, at the base level, this kid has persevered through unimaginable things, unimaginable traumatic experiences. And he’s persevered, weathered the storms, and came out better on the other side of it. So, I don’t think that the NFL is going to be able to throw anything at this kid that he hasn’t already experienced.”