Pick 87 Savion Williams WR TCU

[tynimiller]

Crazy excellent YAC dude that could be everywhere for us from backfield, to TE to split out wide…unique weapon!

 

[gopkrs]

Have to admit that I would have preferred a lineman. But I don't know a thing about this guy or how he will be used.

 

[Schultz]

As far as straight up WR IMO Royals and Horton are better. Obviously, they have outside the box plans for Savion.

 

[Sanguine camper]

Last season, Williams played in 10 games had 600 yards receiving and averaged about 10 yards per catch. For a guy that big with decent speed, it's strange he was used as an underneath guy so often.
Did TCU have the weakest armed QB in college football?

 

[rdawsoniii]

Suffers from the dropsies. He’ll fit right in.

 

[Sanguine camper]

At the combine, Savion ran a 4.49 40 yard dash. He skipped the agility drills and bench press so he failed to garner a RAS score. This pick may be the first in quite a while where Gute selected a guy so high in the draft who missing key athletic resting. Since so many players are refusing to let themselves be tested, Gute may have no option but to jettison his previous standards.

 

[Dantés]

At the combine, Savion ran a 4.49 40 yard dash. He skipped the agility drills and bench press so he failed to garner a RAS score. This pick may be the first in quite a while where Gute selected a guy so high in the draft who missing key athletic resting. Since so many players are refusing to let themselves be tested, Gute may have no option but to jettison his previous standards.

Golden also didn't have an RAS score.

 

[Dantés]

Didn't see this one coming. Hopefully LaFleur has a good plan to use him, because a gadget player like this needs a lot of designed touches. I imagine he could be pretty effective as a kick returner.

 

[Schultz]

So are we saying bye bye to Hardman?

 

[Schultz]

At the combine, Savion ran a 4.49 40 yard dash. He skipped the agility drills and bench press so he failed to garner a RAS score. This pick may be the first in quite a while where Gute selected a guy so high in the draft who missing key athletic resting. Since so many players are refusing to let themselves be tested, Gute may have no option but to jettison his previous standards.

To me he already jettisoned his previous trends. Other than 2020 I do not recall the 1st 3 picks being offense.

 

[gopkrs]

Lo

So are we saying bye bye to Hardman?

Looks like he'll have competition to make the team

 

[Sanguine camper]

In a 2 TE formation one of the TE's is split out like a WR. Perhaps they will use Williams as the split out TE in 2 TE sets. Guys that big don't normally have his speed and ability to make guys miss. I could easily see him matched against a LB in a 2 TE set. It would be be a great mismatch for the Packers. He's faster and more mobile than the often injured Luke Musgrave.

While Williams isn't likely to be used as a TE exclusively, he may take enough reps from Musgrave to send him to the bench s TE #3.

 

[ThePerfectBeard]

Nothing like forgoing going after wide receivers last year in a strong receiver class to go after two receivers in a poor class. Guess we don't need DL or Edge in strong DL/Edge group.

 

[Magooch]

Usage wise feels like Poor Man’s Deebo

 

[gopkrs]

Nothing like forgoing going after wide receivers last year in a strong receiver class to go after two receivers in a poor class. Guess we don't need DL or Edge in strong DL/Edge group.

I don't see when we could have gotten a Mathew Golden last year. And our receivers appeared stronger last year imo with no worries about future contracts or availability. And Wicks was just weird to me. So much potential and so little kinetic. Seems like real good competition this year.

 

[tynimiller]

Usage wise feels like Poor Man’s Deebo

He is our Cordarelle Patterson IMO

 

[Schultz]

I do not find that very reassuring.

 

[gopkrs]

Maybe this is a LaFleur pick. Still looking for his offbeat guy.

 

[DoURant]

Bill Huber just tweeted on X, that Savion Williams said he had a pre-draft visit with the Packers. Must have been one of the last 5 not reported.

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

I love the 6'4. The just a tick below 4.5 speed I'm not crazy about. The fact that we need lineman linebackers and DBs and we've gone with 2 WR I'm not a fan of. The fact that 2 of the 3 top OL prospects IMO went to divisional opponents 1 pick after we drafted...gonna be honest I hate it. I'd like to believe Gutey nailed all 3 picks...but I'm thinking it's probably only 2 out of 3 right now. I'm hoping for a fat guy Saturday...cause I don't want to have the youngest AND SKINNIEST team in the league. We can't have 190 pound dudes trying to stop the run or run the ball.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

I read it 6'4" 222 pounds. Ran 4.48 40....

That's pretty athletic for a big guy like that imo. 4.4 anything for a guy who is a couple thanksgiving dinners away from being a TE, is great speed.

Also, those big athletic guys tend to not only take a 1/10th or two, seconds longer to get up to speed... Those 4.4s tend to show that the big guy has a higher top end speed than most big guys... Like Jordy Nelson.... He was a great example of taking a bit longer to get going. But had a whole extra gear on the top end speed...

I like the pick.

Our offense is going to be noticably better. Basically getting Morgan and Marshawn loyd back healthy for their first real years', and these new rookies. It's going to be a noticable infusion. Imo.

 

[Thirteen Below]

I don't understand this pick at all. I have no idea what the plan is for Williams, but there must be one. I don't think this was a BPA pick; I think Gute saw something specific in Williams that he thought we needed, and Lafleur wants to play around with.

He's an intriguing player.... an explosive, violent runner, hard to bring down (at the college level, anyway) and a tough matchup in the secondary - too fast for linebackers, too big for cornerbacks. Some of the plays in this highlight reel, it took 4 or even 5 defenders to finally get him off his feet, and he rarely goes down from the first hit.

But he's got some really rough edges that'll need to get smoothed off, and he often has a very awkward, unnatural style of catching the ball - he sometimes almost "fights" the ball into his hands, as though someone tossed him a porcupine. He doesn't seem fully comfortable catching the pass, although at the same time, he's very good at hauling in contested catches.

Lafleur will probably use him in a lot of unique plays - he was a high school quarterback, and some scouts actually projected him as a running back at the NFL level, but I think his frame is too lanky for that to be his primary position, and it takes him too many strides to hit top speed. At 6'5", his running style is too upright to bust through the line in the NFL.

One thing that worries me is that the crazy, twisting, all-over-the-place way he spins and turns in traffic, plants his foot and jukes or pivots, just screams "knee injury waiting to happen." A lot of people are comparing him to Deebo Samuel, and I can see where he might play a similar role, but Deebo (5 inches shorter) is a much smoother, more compact runner, and a far more effortless and surehanded receiver.

I rarely actually criticize Gute's draft picks, especially just 4 or 5 hours after the pick was made, but I do occasionally question them. This one puzzles me... he's a guy who (if he develops properly) could add a unique dimension to the offense, but at a time where we have some immediate needs at other positions, may be a luxury we can't afford.

But nevertheless, he's a Packer now, so let's just hope for the best. If anyone can polish him up, it's probably Lafleur and Vrable.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

 

[Thirteen Below]

Nothing like forgoing going after wide receivers last year in a strong receiver class to go after two receivers in a poor class. Guess we don't need DL or Edge in strong DL/Edge group.

To be fair, last April we don't know Watson was going to tear his ACL, or that several of the kids who had such great years in 23 were going to take a step backward. But yeah.... I think we could have helped the pass rush quite a bit at that pick, more than we will probably be able to do on Day Three.

What this pick suggests to me is that Gute (who has often expressed confidence in van Ness having a breakout 3rd season) is more optimistic about that than we realized. Maybe he's right, but I'd feel more comfortable if he'd used this pick to cover that bet.