Patriots rookie WR Kyle Williams making positive impact at OTAs

Patriots rookie WR Kyle Williams making positive impact at OTAs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The New England Patriots waited until the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft to select a wide receiver, and they chose Washington State star Kyle Williams.

The 6-foot, 180-pound wideout tallied career highs with 70 receptions, 1,198 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns for the Cougars during the 2024 season.

Williams could play a meaningful role in Josh McDaniels’ offense as a rookie, but he’ll have to earn that opportunity with consistently good reps on the practice field.

That process is already underway at Patriots’ OTAs last week and this week. How has Williams looked so far?

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Our insider Phil Perry shared his observations during the latest episode of NBC Sports Boston’s Next Pats Podcast.

“Is he going to be a true ‘No. 1?’ No. But I think he might be their X (wide receiver),”Perry said. “I like how he’s played through two practices.”

The best play for the Patriots offense on Thursday was a nice catch by Willams.

“He was on the field with Drake Maye, which, to me, as a rookie that’s a good sign,” Perry said. “I think the highlight of the day for the offense was a deep ball down the right sideline from Josh Dobbs to Williams. He got both feet in bounds and beat Miles Battle.”

Perry noted that Williams is among the wideouts staying after practice to get more work in with quarterback Drake Maye.

“I think it’s a good thing to see guys like (Efton) Chism and Kyle Williams, two of your rookie receivers — those were the last two guys on the field each of the last two practices that that we’ve been out there for as reporters. They were catching footballs off the JUGS machine.”

With Stefon Diggs’ status for Week 1 still uncertain as he continues to rehab from a torn ACL suffered Week 8 last season, the Patriots really need one of their young wideouts to step up and be a difference maker early in the 2025 season.

Williams could definitely be a player who fills a more important role than expected. He has 4.40-second-40-yard-dash speed and is very good after the catch. He’s versatile enough to run a lot of different routes. It’ll be interesting to see how fast he can climb the depth chart. It’s a fairly crowded group at the moment.

“I think the depth is OK,” Perry said of New England’s wide receiver group. “The high end talent on this team at receiver is still not great. I’m not calling this room so deep that it’s a good problem for them just yet. It’s better than last year, but it’s still lacking.”