Mike Williams

Week 2 at Tennessee Titans

Mike Williams didn't exactly get his season off to a flying start against the Miami Dolphins. Williams saw five targets - a 16% share - which he converted into four grabs for 45 scoreless yards. Williams scored 6.5 Half-PPR points and finished the week as the WR49. Not great.

The Chargers should look to attack the Titans through the air, after operating at a balanced clip a week ago. This should see an increase in opportunities for Williams and puts him firmly into the WR2 conversation this week.

Fantasy Upside
When healthy, Mike Williams has been very productive. He's topped 1,000 receiving yards twice and caught at least 85 passes in each of the past four seasons. Williams has put up touchdown receiving seasons of 10 in 2018 and nine in 2021 but has only found the end zone 11 times in his other four seasons. As 4for4's John Paulsen notes, Keenan Allen is still the team’s WR1, but like Williams, he has a tendency to get nicked up as well, and Williams’s role grows when Allen misses time. Even with Allen on the field, Williams has averaged a solid 4.0-60-0.42 on 6.6 targets per game over the last three seasons. Paulsen added Williams was 20th in yards per route run and thrives on contested catches.

Fantasy Downside
Staying healthy is always a major concern with Williams, who has played a full campaign just once in six NFL seasons. True to form, he missed four regular-season games due to injury in 2022 and also sat out the post-season loss to the Jaguars due to a back injury sustained in Week 18. In addition, you might expect more consistent figures with Justin Herbert throwing the ball his way. Williams had three 100-yard outings in a four-game span early last season when he was fully healthy and only topped the mark once the remainder of the season. He had 25 receptions in those three outings, roughly 40 percent of his season output. Yardage-wise, he had less than 20 yards in three of the first six games.

2023 Bottom Line
As long as he stays healthy, he should provide WR2 production and that makes him a good value as the WR22 in our rankings.

Week 16 at Indianapolis Colts

Mike Williams came down to earth with a bump in Week 15 against the Titans. After a six-catch,116-yard game against the Dolphins, Williams caught four of his eight targets for 67 yards against the Titans. 35 of these yards came on a single play in the fourth quarter. Williams finished with 8.7 Half PPR points, good for WR38 in Week 15.

The Colts rank 17th in aFPA to wide receivers this season, despite only allowing the fifth-fewest receiving yards to wideouts this year. Williams should be able to put up high-end WR2 numbers this week.