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In 2023, his final season at North Carolina, quarterback Drake Maye completed 40 of 84 passes of 20 or more air yards for 1,452 yards, 13 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 113.6.
In 2024, his first season with the New England Patriots, Maye completed 10 of 30 passes of 20 or more air yards for 320 yards, five touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 86.1.
Maye didn't lose his fastball in his transition from the NCAA to the NFL. What happened was that the Patriots had no receivers that could consistently separate downfield, leaving Maye throwing darts into a void. And it wasn't just the deep ball. On throws of 10-19 air yards, Maye completed just 30 of 59 passes for 513 yards, four touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 68.0— Maye's worst passer rating per air distance by far.
It didn't help that Maye was one of the NFL's most pressured quarterbacks last season behind an offensive line that was awful (to be charitable about the whole thing), but the primary issue was Maye's targets.
"Put great people around him," new head coach Mike Vrabel said in his opening press conference in January, when asked how he would help Maye reach his ultimate potential. "We have to — I would say that my involvement will be as it relates to game management and situational awareness and where we are on the football field and trying to develop him as a leader of the offense. When a quarterback, when they call the play, like you want to say like everybody's going to believe that it's going to score a touchdown, like with that type of emphasis on how everything is going to operate. Drake is going to be his own person, but I'm going to give him some things that I feel like are necessary to help us win football games."
The Patriots, with Vrabel and general manager Eliot Wolf, tried their best to solve the problem in free agency and the draft. Veterans Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins came on board with new deals, which marked decent — if not revolutionary — upgrades. But as free agency was more about New England's defense, the draft was going to have to provide the force multiplier.
And that could well come from Washington State receiver Kyle Williams, who the Patriots selected with the 69th overall pick in the third round. Williams was the ninth receiver taken in the 2025 draft — 11 picks after the Las Vegas Raiders selected TCU's Jack Bech with the 58th overall pick in the second round, and one before the Detroit Lions took Arkansas' Isaac TeSlaa with the 70th overall pick.
But based on Williams' tape and production, especially since he transferred from UNLV to Washington State in 2023, and started catching passes from 2025 first-overall pick Cam Ward before Ward transferred to Miami for the 2025 season, he could be the sleeper receiver in this class overall.
Certainly, the improvement on deep passes is right up Williams' alley, and that's where we'll start with what he brings to his NFL team, and a hopefully redefined passing game.
(James Snook-Imagn Images)
When asked post-draft how he would describe his playing style, Williams said, "I would describe it as versatile, game-changing, and electric."
The tape shows it to be true, and the primary reason for that is how well Williams is able to accelerate right off the line of scrimmage. Williams' knack for going from 0 to 60 in a major hurry while retaining route awareness and technique makes him a special rookie prospect, and a potential No. 1 receiver in any concept.
It's also why Williams was as productive a deep receiver as any in the 2025 draft class. Last season, Williams caught 14 passes of 20 or more air yards on 24 targets for 454 yards and six touchdowns. Williams got his explosive downfield plays from a high diet of go, seam, post, and corner routes, and he's specifically great at understanding the ideal ways and placements against different coverages to get designed openings together in short spaces. When you have a vertical receiver with that level of nuance, that vertical receiver can be a very dangerous person.
(Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images)
If you want to be an X-iso receiver in the NFL, you need to beat man and press coverage both right off the line of scrimmage, and through the entire route.
Williams has no such issues with these concepts. Last season against man coverage (most of it combined with press coverage), Williams caught 20 passes on 34 targets for 441 yards, 263 air yards, six five touchdowns. And on passes of 20 or more air yards against man coverage, Williams caught seven passes on 10 targets for 237 yards, 183 air yards, and four scores.
The performance against man coverage was something that both Williams and Eliot Wolf were asked about.
"Yeah, quite a bit," Wolf said. "His ability to win off the line with his releases and accelerate, his ability to stem guys at the top of the route, there's still some things that he could work on and clean up, which I'm sure [receivers coach] Todd [Downing] and [offensive coordinator] Josh [McDaniels] will work with him on, but that was something that stood out to us throughout the process."
"Just constant film study," Williams said. "Always perfecting the game, I mean, my craft. I mean, I take pride in my craft. I feel like it's an art. So, you have to really take pride in art, you have to [have] attention to detail, you have to worry about the little things. I worry about those small little details, and I try to correct them and match them to my game."
(James Snook-Imagn Images)
"For me, it's just the ability to adjust," Williams said of his ability to work with multiple quarterbacks in his collegiate career. "Each quarterback, they have a different style, as you can see just watching film. So being able to adjust to them and accommodate what they need is something that has helped me with my game, so that I can go to any environment and just adapt and adjust. Whatever that quarterback needs from me, I can be on that same terminology, same wavelength, so we can complete all types of passes."
One type of pass the Patriots need quite a bit more success with is the pass that results in a contested catch. Last season for Washington State, Williams caught 14 of 29 contested targets. Nine of those catches were for explosive plays, and six were for touchdowns.
Williams doesn't have a physical dominance to his game like Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan or Colorado's Travis Hunter (to a lesser degree), but cornerbacks first have to catch up to him to contest the catch, and that can be an issue, as we have seen. In addition, Washington State's quarterbacks in the 2024 season tended to underthrow Williams, forcing him to stop and wait for the ball. That obviously gave said cornerbacks advantages that Williams was still able to negate more often than not. One would imagine that Maye, who has a great downfield arm, will enjoy getting into that rhythm with his new best deep receiver.
(James Snook-Imagn Images)
For all of Williams' dynamism, he was still a third-round pick, and Eliot Wolf mentioned some things that Williams has to clean up in his game. Focus drops can be an issue; he had five drops last season and 21 in his NCAA career. These are not drops with traffic converging to an overwhelming degree — Williams doesn't appear to be afraid of converging defenders about to knock his block off. It's more that he'll look to run with the ball before he's brought it in, which can get you in trouble.
Williams could also work on catching the ball away from his frame as opposed to trying too hard to turn and run too quickly. Expanding his catch radius with technique will be especially important at the NFL level because he's coming into the league with a wingspan of 73 inches that is 14th percentile among receivers since 1999, and his arm length (30 1/8 inches) and hand size (8 3/4 inches are both ninth percentile.
Williams' run-blocking will need work as well, and he could stand to be a bit more efficient with his route cuts. But these are fixable dings, and when you take the effort, technique, and production overall, it's pretty clear that Kyle Williams has everything required to be the dynamic receiver the Patriots desperately need if they're to bring the most out of their second-year quarterback in the short term, and to be competitive over the long haul.
Maxing those skills out, and refining the things that need work, could have Williams becoming the best receiver in this draft class over time.
Continue reading...
In 2024, his first season with the New England Patriots, Maye completed 10 of 30 passes of 20 or more air yards for 320 yards, five touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 86.1.
Maye didn't lose his fastball in his transition from the NCAA to the NFL. What happened was that the Patriots had no receivers that could consistently separate downfield, leaving Maye throwing darts into a void. And it wasn't just the deep ball. On throws of 10-19 air yards, Maye completed just 30 of 59 passes for 513 yards, four touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 68.0— Maye's worst passer rating per air distance by far.
It didn't help that Maye was one of the NFL's most pressured quarterbacks last season behind an offensive line that was awful (to be charitable about the whole thing), but the primary issue was Maye's targets.
"Put great people around him," new head coach Mike Vrabel said in his opening press conference in January, when asked how he would help Maye reach his ultimate potential. "We have to — I would say that my involvement will be as it relates to game management and situational awareness and where we are on the football field and trying to develop him as a leader of the offense. When a quarterback, when they call the play, like you want to say like everybody's going to believe that it's going to score a touchdown, like with that type of emphasis on how everything is going to operate. Drake is going to be his own person, but I'm going to give him some things that I feel like are necessary to help us win football games."
The Patriots, with Vrabel and general manager Eliot Wolf, tried their best to solve the problem in free agency and the draft. Veterans Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins came on board with new deals, which marked decent — if not revolutionary — upgrades. But as free agency was more about New England's defense, the draft was going to have to provide the force multiplier.
And that could well come from Washington State receiver Kyle Williams, who the Patriots selected with the 69th overall pick in the third round. Williams was the ninth receiver taken in the 2025 draft — 11 picks after the Las Vegas Raiders selected TCU's Jack Bech with the 58th overall pick in the second round, and one before the Detroit Lions took Arkansas' Isaac TeSlaa with the 70th overall pick.
But based on Williams' tape and production, especially since he transferred from UNLV to Washington State in 2023, and started catching passes from 2025 first-overall pick Cam Ward before Ward transferred to Miami for the 2025 season, he could be the sleeper receiver in this class overall.
Certainly, the improvement on deep passes is right up Williams' alley, and that's where we'll start with what he brings to his NFL team, and a hopefully redefined passing game.
Releasing from the line with speed and awareness.
You must be registered for see images attach
(James Snook-Imagn Images)
When asked post-draft how he would describe his playing style, Williams said, "I would describe it as versatile, game-changing, and electric."
The tape shows it to be true, and the primary reason for that is how well Williams is able to accelerate right off the line of scrimmage. Williams' knack for going from 0 to 60 in a major hurry while retaining route awareness and technique makes him a special rookie prospect, and a potential No. 1 receiver in any concept.
It's also why Williams was as productive a deep receiver as any in the 2025 draft class. Last season, Williams caught 14 passes of 20 or more air yards on 24 targets for 454 yards and six touchdowns. Williams got his explosive downfield plays from a high diet of go, seam, post, and corner routes, and he's specifically great at understanding the ideal ways and placements against different coverages to get designed openings together in short spaces. When you have a vertical receiver with that level of nuance, that vertical receiver can be a very dangerous person.
Beating man and press coverage.
You must be registered for see images attach
(Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images)
If you want to be an X-iso receiver in the NFL, you need to beat man and press coverage both right off the line of scrimmage, and through the entire route.
Williams has no such issues with these concepts. Last season against man coverage (most of it combined with press coverage), Williams caught 20 passes on 34 targets for 441 yards, 263 air yards, six five touchdowns. And on passes of 20 or more air yards against man coverage, Williams caught seven passes on 10 targets for 237 yards, 183 air yards, and four scores.
The performance against man coverage was something that both Williams and Eliot Wolf were asked about.
"Yeah, quite a bit," Wolf said. "His ability to win off the line with his releases and accelerate, his ability to stem guys at the top of the route, there's still some things that he could work on and clean up, which I'm sure [receivers coach] Todd [Downing] and [offensive coordinator] Josh [McDaniels] will work with him on, but that was something that stood out to us throughout the process."
"Just constant film study," Williams said. "Always perfecting the game, I mean, my craft. I mean, I take pride in my craft. I feel like it's an art. So, you have to really take pride in art, you have to [have] attention to detail, you have to worry about the little things. I worry about those small little details, and I try to correct them and match them to my game."
Making the contested catch.
You must be registered for see images attach
(James Snook-Imagn Images)
"For me, it's just the ability to adjust," Williams said of his ability to work with multiple quarterbacks in his collegiate career. "Each quarterback, they have a different style, as you can see just watching film. So being able to adjust to them and accommodate what they need is something that has helped me with my game, so that I can go to any environment and just adapt and adjust. Whatever that quarterback needs from me, I can be on that same terminology, same wavelength, so we can complete all types of passes."
One type of pass the Patriots need quite a bit more success with is the pass that results in a contested catch. Last season for Washington State, Williams caught 14 of 29 contested targets. Nine of those catches were for explosive plays, and six were for touchdowns.
Williams doesn't have a physical dominance to his game like Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan or Colorado's Travis Hunter (to a lesser degree), but cornerbacks first have to catch up to him to contest the catch, and that can be an issue, as we have seen. In addition, Washington State's quarterbacks in the 2024 season tended to underthrow Williams, forcing him to stop and wait for the ball. That obviously gave said cornerbacks advantages that Williams was still able to negate more often than not. One would imagine that Maye, who has a great downfield arm, will enjoy getting into that rhythm with his new best deep receiver.
What still needs work.
You must be registered for see images attach
(James Snook-Imagn Images)
For all of Williams' dynamism, he was still a third-round pick, and Eliot Wolf mentioned some things that Williams has to clean up in his game. Focus drops can be an issue; he had five drops last season and 21 in his NCAA career. These are not drops with traffic converging to an overwhelming degree — Williams doesn't appear to be afraid of converging defenders about to knock his block off. It's more that he'll look to run with the ball before he's brought it in, which can get you in trouble.
Williams could also work on catching the ball away from his frame as opposed to trying too hard to turn and run too quickly. Expanding his catch radius with technique will be especially important at the NFL level because he's coming into the league with a wingspan of 73 inches that is 14th percentile among receivers since 1999, and his arm length (30 1/8 inches) and hand size (8 3/4 inches are both ninth percentile.
Williams' run-blocking will need work as well, and he could stand to be a bit more efficient with his route cuts. But these are fixable dings, and when you take the effort, technique, and production overall, it's pretty clear that Kyle Williams has everything required to be the dynamic receiver the Patriots desperately need if they're to bring the most out of their second-year quarterback in the short term, and to be competitive over the long haul.
Maxing those skills out, and refining the things that need work, could have Williams becoming the best receiver in this draft class over time.
Related: Why Dillon Gabriel Has Better Chance At Browns' QB Future Than Shedeur Sanders
Related: How the Seahawks Can Turn QB Jalen Milroe Into Their Future King
Related: How the Seahawks Can Turn QB Jalen Milroe Into Their Future King
Continue reading...
