Editor\u2019s note: Everyone\u2019s excited about the Commanders\u2019 NFL Draft haul. Rightfully so. That doesn\u2019t mean each selection will slot into a prominent role as a rookie. We\u2019ll discuss realistic expectations for each player over the next few days, leading into Commanders rookie minicamp. In this installment, we evaluate the Clemson receiver getting a lot of love from the fan base:<\/p>\n
Height\/Weight: 5-foot-11.5\/187 pounds<\/p>\n
What Adam Peters said: \u201cI\u2019d describe him as just a great athlete. Great athlete, really fast and he\u2019s fast in a lot of different ways. He\u2019s fast at the 40 time. The GPS is really, really high on him. End game. And then the old scout\u2019s eye, you see him, he plays fast and he plays at a high level. He\u2019s an NFL route runner. He can win versus press. He can beat man coverage. We really like the versatility of him as well. He can play inside. He played a lot inside this year. He played outside last year, and that\u2019s really the thing that differentiated him from a lot of guys is winning outside and winning against really good players outside, especially in 2024. So, NFL route runner there\u2019s just a lot of really, really good things about him and just an all-around great package.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Antonio Williams said: \u201cI\u2019m just a smooth operator out there on the field, whether that\u2019s running a route, making somebody miss, making an acrobatic catch. I just play real smooth out there and just have a lot of confidence in myself and what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prominent members of the position group*: Terry McLaurin, Luke McCaffrey, Treylon Burks, Dynami Brown, Jaylin Lane<\/p>\n
Perfect-world expectations: Williams follows Terry McLaurin\u2019s footsteps as a third-round pick who bursts onto the scene as a true instant-impact rookie.<\/p>\n
The Clemson product could prove capable of besting NFL coverage on a regular basis and find himself heavily involved in the offense both from the slot and outside. He\u2019ll need to be a quick study learning a new offense to earn that role, which is possible considering Peters has lauded Williams\u2019 football IQ. If he can process fast and play fast, Williams should be a force.<\/p>\n
Building trust with quarterback Jayden Daniels during training camp could lead to a high target count and a solidified role as the No. 2 receiver behind McLaurin, especially if Washington doesn\u2019t add Brandon Aiyuk or Jauan Jennings<\/a> to the position group.<\/p>\n That would add long-term stability to the receiver corps, something Washington desperately needs.<\/p>\n Real-world expectations: Playing receiver in the NFL is hard. Going from college to the pros is one of the toughest transitions of any non-quarterback position. Knowledge, precision and physical skills must combine to beat NFL coverage, and that doesn\u2019t always come together right away. That\u2019s often true for first-round picks and regularly the case for those taken later.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what makes McLaurin\u2019s rookie season rare. We therefore shouldn\u2019t hold those expectations over Williams. It\u2019s fair to expect him to provide production in the slot, even if that comes a few weeks into the regular season. As our Jamual Forrest explains in this film breakdown<\/a>, Williams is a quality route runner with good releases and the technical skill to make plays in this league. He should do that as a rookie, even if his catch volume and overall totals won\u2019t be as high as they will down the road.<\/p>\n What are your expectations for Antonio Williams in his rookie year? Add them and a stat line \u2014 what the heck? \u2014 to the comments below. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: Everyone\u2019s excited about the Commanders\u2019 NFL Draft haul. Rightfully so. That doesn\u2019t mean each selection will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,17351,99,235817],"class_list":["post-617678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-nfl-draft","tag-sports","tag-washington-commanders-draft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}