WR D’Haquille Williams (Buffalo Bills) | 1st Year*
*Williams was on the Rams in 2016 during training camp but was cut before the season
2018 Stats (CFL): 18 games played, 88 receptions for 1,579 yards, 11 TD
College
Hopefully, 2019 will mark the regular-season NFL debut for D’Haquille Williams. This journey began at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in 2012. His next step was a transfer to Auburn in 2014. After a successful first season in the CFB ranks, Williams was dismissed from the team in 2015. This was due to an incident where he punched several people at a bar, including a teammate.
NFL – Take 1
After his dismissal, Williams chose to focus on the 2016 NFL draft. Unfortunately, bad results at the NFL combine, coupled with the bar incident, led him to being undrafted. The Rams signed Williams as a UDFA but he was cut as part of the final roster trim to 53.
CFL
Needing to revitalize his career, Williams went north of the border and joined the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. In 2017, Williams caught 46 passes for 715 yards and 4 TDs. After a successful rookie season, he took a step forward. Williams led the CFL in receiving yards for 2018 with 1,579. This was done on 88 receptions for a robust 17.9 yards per catch. This was indicative of his role as a deep threat and his yards after the catch ability.
More importantly than his play, Williams learned how to be a professional in the CFL. He was not involved in any violent incidents since 2015, he practiced hard and was able to help his team win games. He now appears to be ready for his second NFL chance.
NFL – Take 2
This second chance is with the Buffalo Bills who signed Williams back in January. He joins a team with a young QB who likes to throw deep, therefore the skill sets should match up. Josh Allen does have accuracy issues, so a big-bodied receiver like Williams may help. While he is close to the same height (6’3″) as some of his current teammates, Williams posses a much bigger frame. He weighs in at 225 lbs, which is a significant increase over both Robert Foster (196 lbs) and Zay Jones (201 lbs) even though they are both 6’2″.
The area that Williams will certainly help the Bills is in the red-zone. While they weren’t horrible inside of the 20, Williams could help Buffalo better its 2018 TD rate in the red-zone of 59.46%. The other new receivers brought in by the Bills (Cole Beasley and John Brown) are both on the smaller side and do not fit the mold of traditional red-zone weapons. Meanwhile, Jones has not been very good with contested catches or creating separation in his Bills career so far. That leaves Foster as Williams primary competition at WR in end zone packages.
There is certainly no guarantee that Williams makes the final 53-man roster. Although, frankly, I would be surprised if he was not a member of the Bills in 2019. The team requires an infusion of talented receivers and Williams fits the mold of a player that they could use.
In all likelihood, Williams will not see an abundance of targets. For fantasy football, he may be better in best-ball formats as a high-volatility TD dependent player. For a deep dive, this one goes right to the bottom of the pool. He may not be selected in your fantasy football draft, but keep an eye on him as a potential waiver wire pick up if he starts to flash his potential.
Thank you for reading. Be sure to check out more of the great content on Going for 2. If you have any questions or comments, I can be reached on Twitter @nyama_ks.
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