Mike Williams (wide receiver, born 1994)

Michael K. Williams[1] (born October 4, 1994) is an American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson, and was drafted by the Chargers seventh overall in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Mike Williams
No. 81 – Los Angeles Chargers
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1994-10-04) October 4, 1994
Holly Hill, South Carolina
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High school:Lake Marion
(Santee, South Carolina)
College:Clemson
NFL Draft:2017 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Receptions:151
Receiving yards:2,516
Receiving touchdowns:17
Rushing yards:31
Rushing touchdowns:1
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Williams attended Lake Marion High School & Technology Center in Santee, South Carolina, where he played on the football team. He had 66 receptions for 1,296 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior, and he had 60 receptions for 1,395 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior. Williams was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit.[2] He committed to Clemson University to play college football.[3]

College career

Williams played in all 13 games as a true freshman in 2013, making three starts. He finished with 20 receptions for 316 yards and three touchdowns.[4] Williams returned as a starter his sophomore year in 2014.[5][6][7] He finished the year with 57 receptions for 1,030 yards and six touchdowns.[8]

In 2015, in the first game of the season against the Wofford Terriers, Williams fractured a bone in his neck after colliding with the goal post just as he was catching a touchdown pass from quarterback Deshaun Watson on his team's first offensive series of the game.[9] He sat out the rest of the season and received redshirt status.[10]

In 2016 as a redshirt junior, Williams returned to his starting role and started all 15 games for Clemson, recording team highs in receptions (98), yards (1,361), and touchdowns (11).[11] He caught touchdown passes in 9 games (including 3 against rival South Carolina) and had over 100 yards receiving in 5 games. In the National Championship Game against Alabama, Williams caught eight passes for 94 yards and one touchdown. Williams completed his bachelor's degree in sociology in December 2016.[1][10]

On January 10, 2017, hours after Clemson defeated Alabama 35–31 for the national championship, Williams announced that he would forgo his senior year and enter the 2017 NFL Draft.[12]

Statistics
Mike WilliamsReceiving
YearTeamGamesRecYdsAvgTDs
2013Clemson 102031615.83
2014Clemson 12571,03018.16
2015Clemson 122010.01
2016Clemson 15981,36113.911
Total 381772,72715.421

Professional career

Coming out of Clemson, Williams was considered a top prospect and projected as a first round pick by the majority of draft experts and analysts. He attended the NFL Combine, but only performed the bench, vertical, and broad jump. He performed the 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash, and 10-yard dash at Clemson's Pro Day and also ran positional drills. Williams was ranked the best wide receiver in the draft by ESPN, the second best wide receiver by Pro Football Focus, the third best wide receiver by Sports Illustrated, and NFLDraftScout.com ranked him the third best wide receiver in the draft.[13][14][15]

External video
Mike Williams' NFL Combine workout
Mike Williams' Clemson Pro Day workout
Williams's Pro Day 40-yard dash
Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 3 5⁄8 in
(1.92 m)		 218 lb
(99 kg)		 33 3⁄8 in
(0.85 m)		 9 3⁄8 in
(0.24 m)		 4.54 s 1.66 s 2.58 s 32 1⁄2 in
(0.83 m)		 10 ft 1 in
(3.07 m)		 15 reps
All values from NFL Combine/Clemson's Pro Day[16][17]

The Los Angeles Chargers selected Williams in the first round with the seventh overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.[18] He was the second wide receiver selected (No. 5, Corey Davis) in the draft.[19]

External video
Chargers select Williams seventh overall
Mike Williams' 2017 NFL Draft Profile

On May 11, 2017, the Los Angeles Chargers signed Williams to a fully guaranteed four-year, $19.74 million contract with a signing bonus of $12.50 million.[20][21]

2017 season

Williams participated in rookie minicamp, but missed organized team activities and was expected to miss the start of training camp due to a mild herniated disc in his lower back.[22] On July 30, 2017, it was announced by head coach Anthony Lynn that Williams was expected to miss the entire training camp due to his back injury.[23]

He was inactive for the first six games of the regular season and made his professional regular season debut in Week 6.[24] He made his first career reception on a 15-yard pass by quarterback Philip Rivers in the fourth quarter of their 17–16 victory at the Oakland Raiders, before being tackled by safety Karl Joseph.[25] On November 19, 2017, Williams caught a season-high five passes for 38-yard during a 54–24 victory against the Buffalo Bills in Week 11.[26] Williams was sidelined for the Chargers' Week 13 win against the Cleveland Browns after sustaining a knee injury in the first quarter of their 28–6 victory at the Dallas Cowboys the previous week.[27] He finished his rookie season in 2017 with 11 receptions for 95 yards in ten games and one start.[28]

2018 season

In Week 2, Williams recorded his first professional touchdown in the 31–20 victory over the Buffalo Bills.[29] The following week, against the Los Angeles Rams, he had four receptions for 81 receiving yards and two touchdowns.[30] In Week 15 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Williams had his best game of the season as he caught 7 passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns, plus rushing for 19 yards for a touchdown. He also caught a late go-ahead two-point conversion with four seconds left in a 29–28 victory despite being down 14–28 with five minutes left. For his performance in Week 15, Williams was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week.[31] He finished the 2018 season with 43 receptions for 664 receiving yards and ten receiving touchdowns.[32]

2019 season

In Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers, Williams caught three passes for a season-high 111 yards in the 26–11 win. This was Williams' first game with at least 100 receiving yards of the season.[33] In Week 13 against the Denver Broncos, Williams caught five passes for 117 yards in the 23–20 loss.[34] Overall, in the 2019 season, Williams recorded 49 receptions for 1,001 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.[35]

2020 season

On April 30, 2020, the Chargers exercised the fifth-year option on Williams' contract. In Week 5 against the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, Williams recorded five catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns during the 30–27 overtime loss.[36] In Week 16 against the Denver Broncos, Williams recorded his first career interception off a pass thrown by Drew Lock on a Hail-Mary attempt with no time left in the game to secure a 19–16 win for the Chargers.[37]

Career Statistics
SeasonTeamGamesReceivingRushing
GPGSTgtRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsAvgLngTD
2017LAC 1012311958.6200–––––
2018LAC 165664366415.455107284.0191
2019 LAC 15 15 90 49 1,001 20.4 56 2 1 2 2.0 2 0
Total41211791031,76017.156128303.810.51

References
  1. https://www.registrar.clemson.edu/pdf/gradDec2016.pdf
  2. "Rivals.com". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  3. "Lake Marion wide receiver Mike Williams commits to Clemson". Post and Courier. August 1, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  4. "Mike Williams 2013 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  5. McGranahan, Ed. "Mike Williams emerges as Clemson's next star at WR". The State. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  6. "Clemson's breakout sophomore receiver sheds poor practice habits". Post and Courier. October 6, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  7. "Williams emerging as strong anchor for Clemson offense". Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  8. "Mike Williams 2014 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  9. "Mike Williams 2015 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  10. "Mike Williams Bio". Clemson Tigers. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  11. "Mike Williams 2016 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  12. "Mike Williams announces intention to enter 2017 NFL Draft". NFL.com. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  13. PFF Analysis Team. "Top 32 Prospects for the 2017 NFL Draft". profootballfocus.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  14. Chris Burke (April 24, 2017). "2017 NFL draft rankings: Top prospects by position". si.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  15. Jeff Legwold (April 22, 2017). "Ranking 2017 draft's top 100 players". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  16. "NFL Draft Profile: Mike Williams". NFL.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  17. "*Mike Williams, DS #3 WR, Clemson". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  18. Rosenthal, Gregg (April 27, 2017). "Chargers open L.A. era by picking WR Mike Williams". NFL.com.
  19. "2017 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  20. "Chargers, Mike Williams agree to four-year deal". ESPN. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  21. "Spotrac.com: Mike Williams contract". spotrac.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  22. Would, Dan (June 2, 2017). "Chargers first-round pick Mike Williams won't return till training camp at earliest". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  23. Rapport, Timothy (July 30, 2017). "Mike Williams Expected to Miss Chargers Training Camp with Back Injury". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  24. "Los Angeles Chargers at Oakland Raiders – October 15th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  25. "NFL Game Center: Week 6-2017: Los Angeles Chargers @ Oakland Raiders". nfl.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  26. "NFL Player stats: Mike Williams (2017)". NFL.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  27. Williams, Eric (November 23, 2017). "Chargers' Mike Williams suffers knee injury". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  28. "NFL Player stats: Mike Williams (career)". NFL.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  29. "Chargers' Mike Williams: Catches first career touchdown". CBSSports.com. September 17, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  30. "Chargers' Mike Williams: Snags two touchdowns despite loss". CBSSports.com. September 23, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  31. "Mike Williams, Dalvin Cook among NFL Players of the Week". NFL.com. December 19, 2018. Archived from the original on February 5, 2020.
  32. "Mike Williams 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  33. "Gordon scores twice as Chargers dominate Packers 26–11". www.espn.com. Associated Press. November 3, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  34. "McManus' 53-yard field goal lifts Denver past Chargers 23–20". www.espn.com. Associated Press. December 1, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  35. "Mike Williams 2019 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  36. "Los Angeles Chargers at New Orleans Saints – October 12th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  37. "Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers - December 27th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
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