It’s that time of year once again! Football Absurdity will bring you a breakdown of every notable fantasy football-relevant player throughout June, July, and August. We continue with the wide receivers. Today, we take a look at Mike Williams, who the Chargers made a priority to retain this offseason. What can we expect from him in your 2022 fantasy football leagues? Let’s take a dive into his fantasy football player profile!
Mike Williams ADP and AAV:
Average Draft Position: WR19, 47 overall
Average Auction Value: $5.8
Mike Williams Statistics:
| Year | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yards | TD | Tgt/G | Rec/G | Rec% | Yds/Tgt | Yds/Rec |
| 2021 | 16 | 14 | 129 | 76 | 1146 | 9 | 9.21 | 4.75 | 58.9% | 8.88 | 15.08 |
| 2020 | 15 | 11 | 85 | 48 | 756 | 5 | 7.73 | 3.20 | 56.5% | 8.89 | 15.75 |
| 2019 | 15 | 15 | 90 | 49 | 1001 | 2 | 5.63 | 3.06 | 54.4% | 11.12 | 20.43 |
| Year | Std Pts | HPPR Pts | PPR Pts | Pts/G | HPPR Pts/G | PPR Pts/G | Pts/Tgt | HPPR Pts/Tgt | PPR Pts/Tgt |
| 2021 | 170.6 | 208.6 | 246.6 | 10.7 | 13.0 | 15.4 | 1.32 | 1.62 | 1.91 |
| 2020 | 105.7 | 129.7 | 153.7 | 7.0 | 8.6 | 10.2 | 1.24 | 1.53 | 1.81 |
| 2019 | 112.3 | 136.8 | 161.3 | 7.5 | 9.1 | 10.8 | 1.25 | 1.52 | 1.79 |
| Year | Air Yards | aDOT | YAC | YAC/Tgt | YAC/Rec | AYMS | Tgt MS |
| 2021 | 1497 | 11.6 | 415 | 3.22 | 5.46 | 30% | 20% |
| 2020 | 1236 | 14.5 | 162 | 1.91 | 3.38 | 31% | 17% |
| 2019 | 1626 | 18.1 | 187 | 2.08 | 3.82 | 34% | 16% |
2022 Mike Williams Fantasy Football Overview:
Mike Williams had some completely wild usage last season. He was very productive in the first five weeks of the season both in a real-life and fantasy football context, averaging 10 targets for 62 catches and 94 yards per game, while scoring six touchdowns in five contexts. He was a top-fifteen wide receiver four times in those games, and the Chargers went 4-1 in this stretch.
He lost his target volume, dropping down to just six targets per game for the rest of the fantasy football season. In this stretch, he scored just two touchdowns in ten games while averaging 3.6 catches and 55.6 yards per contest. Everything else about him was the same, he just lost targets, and the Chargers went just 5-5 in that stretch.
Then, in week seventeen, with the season on the line, the Chargers went to him seventeen times, which he turned into 9 catches, 119 yards, and a touchdown. They lost the game at the very end of overtime, but they saw the blueprint for success.
That’s why the Chargers made retaining Mike Williams a priority, tagging him before he could become a free agent. He has serious 1,000 and 10 upside at wide receiver, and his inconsistencies might get smoothed over in 2022. But even if they don’t, he’s still a good boom-bust WR3 for your fantasy football teams.
2022 Mike Williams Fantasy Football Draft Strategy:
Mike Williams Salary Cap Value: $9
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet!
Unfortunately, in snake drafts, he isn’t going as a boom-bust WR3. Instead, he’s going as a middling WR2 (WR21 off the board, pick 59 overall). But, if you want to win, you want to get guys with his kind of upside on your roster. I prefer him to Jerry Jeudy, Hollywood Brown, and Michael Thomas, who are three of the next four picks, but I can’t take Mike Williams when I can just take Brandin Cooks 8 picks later. That’s where the issue comes in; Mike Williams will be very good, he just happens to go in a range where there’s a player who will be better.
He has no such concerns for salary cap drafts, as he is $5-$6 in drafts, priced below Amon-Ra St. Brown, Michael Thomas, and Courtland Sutton, and is just $1.4 more than Chris Godwin, who might miss half the season with an ACL injury. I absolutely love getting Mike Williams in salary cap drafts, and you should make it a priority to get him there, as well.
Best Case Scenario:
Mike Williams and Justin Herbert recapture the magic from the beginning of the 2021 season, and he far surpasses his 1,000 and 10 upside. Next stop, 1,500 and 15?
Worst Case Scenario:
Mike Williams and Justin Herbert fail to recapture the magic from the beginning of the 2021 season, and you end up dropping him in week six to pick up Dameon Pierce or Damien Williams, right before Mike Williams goes for 125 yards and two touchdowns in his next game.
Check out all our 2022 player profiles, here.
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[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com, airyards.com, and ftnfantasy.com]
[Image Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Mike_Williams_2021.jpg cropped under CC BY SA 2.0]
