Pack-A-Day Podcast - Episode 2471 - Deep Dive Scouting Report - Savion Williams
On today's show, Andy takes a deep dive into the film to review what Savion Williams can bring to the Packers in 2025 and beyond. Don't miss it!
By AndyHerman
Savion Williams was one of the most unique prospects in the entire NFL Draft. Now he's a Green Bay Packer. On today's show, Andy takes a deep dive into the film to review what Williams can bring to the Packers in 2025 and beyond. Don't miss it!
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Andy is a graduate of UW-Oshkosh and owns & operates the Pack-A-Day Podcast. Andy has taken multiple courses in NFL scouting and is an Editor for Packer Report. Andy grew up in Green Bay and is a lifelong season ticket holder - follow him on Twitter @AndyHermanNFL!
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Comments (22)
greengold
May 01, 2025 at 08:55 am
“Sex Panther Hands,” for the Win!
“60% of the time, it works every time…”
Talk about a huge traits/potential draft selection. Can’t Win if you don’t play.
Savion Williams was clearly a developmental prospect entering this draft, and I believe this Packers team might have been his best landing spot to develop his game at WR.
Scoring points was our #1 problem in 2024. Savion was the #7 WR in Red Zone Efficiency according to PFF, and won 75% of his Contested Catches. He’s an exciting player, and possibly the most dynamic offensive weapon in his draft class. Time will tell.
dobber
May 01, 2025 at 09:12 am
Over the course of his college career, Williams scored a TD on 1 of every 10 touches.
Surprisingly the majority of his rushes in his whole college career come AFTER game 6 of last season...he didn't have a single carry his first 3 seasons. He ended up both their second leading ball-carrier and second leading pass catcher in 2024.
sports-reference.com/cfb/players/savion-williams-2.html
Leatherhead
May 01, 2025 at 09:26 am
Last year, he had 12 TDs in less than 100 touches, so that's more like 1 TD every 8 touches.
This WR is going to be an extension of our running game. Short passes, catch and runs, jet sweeps, reverses.
I was about 6 years old when I realized that you give the ball to a good runner and block people, so this is about as Old School as you can get.
Coldworld
May 01, 2025 at 11:58 am
Think about that for a moment. If you have a player who is that productive and yet is only used that infrequently then it speaks volumes to either his coaches or the difficulty of finding opportunities to put him in a position to succeed.
The Lions traded up to take another very similar project in Teslaa. Personally if looking at both Teslaa and Williams as raw clay athletes with huge upside, I and most here, would have gone with the much more physical blocker and far better catcher in Teslaa. It will be interesting to see how their careers compare. However, I can’t be more adamant that if we picked a guy in the third round to be a gadget then we overreached massively for this year and beyond.
A far more ready deep threat X and faster too remained on the board in Thornton. The better no floor, huge upside ball of clay had just gone and now everyone is convinced that the next Cordarelle is a value pick? No. Actually, as a deep threat perimeter player, Williams has, as Andy points out, considerable experience, if in a very basic route tree. He’s really good at getting off press at the line. He’s not really natural catching, but not was MVS and he stretched the field effectively. Williams is less a complete ball of clay as a X than Teslaa.
Patterson is a draft bust who found a lesser, complementary role. That’s not a round 3 pick objective (he was a 1st). If that’s our expectation and focus for Williams then Gute and LaFleur both deserve the back wash. If he’s not stretching the field then we are not pushing him or helping the team.
We are not often going to take the ball from or RBs, especially if Lloyd is adding variation. We are not often going to win by taking the ball from Reed or Golden to work Williams in. We relied on gadget type plays far too much because we could not stretch the field and get open and our OL had issues inside. Williams need to be part of preventing that need and his Cordarelle type contribution needs to be viewed as a bonus if this pick is to pay off now and for the future.
Too much shiny toy euphoria and too little pragmatism.
Leatherhead
May 01, 2025 at 02:12 pm
If 6 touches in a game is infrequent, then Doubs, Reed, Wicks, and Kraft touch the ball infrequently. None of them averaged 6 touches a game. Watson only had about 2 touches a game.
Handing the ball off to Williams on a jet sweep or a reverse, or throwing a short 'catch-and-run- pass, are not gadget plays.
Patterson was a draft bust? He was THE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR. He was a Pro Bowler 6 times in his first 8 seasons. And that's a draft bust?
Basically, I think you're pretty much wrong across the board on this.
Coldworld
May 01, 2025 at 03:58 pm
We will agree to differ unless you consider a round one pick justified by his return skills alone. In 12 years he’s never caught for more than 600 yards in a season and he’s only run for that many twice and never over 700. I would consider that a bust for a first rounder despite his returning 9 kicks for TDs over 12 years.
I suppose it is less of a bust than your strange argument that he’s going to have a big impact just running sweeps and reverses and the suggestion that he’s Watson but better because “Watson averaged 2 touches a game” and similar nonsense designed to prop up an implausible position.
Leatherhead
May 01, 2025 at 05:19 pm
Rookie of the Year is a bust. Six time ProBowler is a bust. OK. I'm clear now.
He is going to be an extension of our running game, but I understand that's too outside the box for you. And I never said he was better than Watson, but I did point out he only got about two touches a game. Thats a fact. And could he replace Watson's ACTUAL production? (33 touches, 660 yards, 2 TDs). Absolutely he could.
It's not just the touches he gets, it's the threat he represents. Just like Watson posed a particular threat that made other things possible, Williams poses a unique threat as a catch-and-run guy. We're going to see that this year.
Coldworld
May 01, 2025 at 07:02 pm
You see only what you wish to see. If you’ve never heard Patterson treated as one you don’t read much and you don’t think about what he’s actually put on the stat sheets. Of course then you go on to describe Williams as a “unique threat” thereby tripping over your defense of Patterson while at the same time suggesting you think that role can justify a 3rd rounder.
Gute specifically denied he’s just that or was drafted to be. He’s meant to be and needs to be MVS plus gadget capability not just the latter. No extra RB makes a dramatic difference in this running attack alone, even a freakish one, especially one who blatantly has no idea how to pass protect.
Leatherhead
May 02, 2025 at 09:56 am
LMAO.
He's going to catch short passes and run with them. An extension of our run game. A long handoff. He's not going to be the field stretcher, like Golden and Reed.
Coldworld
May 02, 2025 at 10:17 am
So he’s going to be Reed and take plays from Golden or Lloyd? If that’s the hope it’s not a sound one. He needs a role beyond that and that’s what he did prior to 2024, an MVS style field steeper at X. If he does that everything else is gravy despite drops. If he just is a slot/gadget he’s a toy that takes a fewsnaps from others.
Bitternotsour
May 02, 2025 at 10:52 am
I see him more like SF used Deebo, which is to say that he's a receiving all-purpose threat. Would be a great waste if he was eclusively in a MVS role, or was languishing on the bench as Golden gets all the wideout snaps as the deep threat.
There are only so many snaps and there appears to be a bigger commitment to the run game based on free agent signings and reassignments on the O-line. So maybe he's part Deebo, part Amon Ra, let's just hope he sees the field and contributes and finally, that Matt LaFleur doesn't spit the bit at the end of the season (again).
Leatherhead
May 02, 2025 at 01:07 pm
Didn't I just say he's NOT going to be Reed or Golden? First, you forget what simple words like misfit mean, then you start losing basic reading skills? Are you OK?
He's going to be used to punish linebackers for focusing on Jacobs, or Wilson (you keep asserting that Lloyd is somehow going to rise from #4 to #2 on the depth chart, even though he hasn't even proven he can stay healthy for a season).
Get used to this concept: Short, catch-and-run passes as an extension of the running game. Long handoffs. Yes, Williams can get deep, and I'm sure we'll see that, but the majority of the damage that he's going to do is going to be done close to the line of scrimmage. We have Reed and Golden who are better suited to the downfield stuff.
LLCHESTY
May 01, 2025 at 11:34 pm
Now you're defending a kick returner? That's rich. 🤣
Leatherhead
May 02, 2025 at 09:57 am
You don't understand much. I'm saying that a guy who gets drafted, makes Rookie of the Year, and has a bunch of Pro Bowls is not a bust.
Coldworld
May 02, 2025 at 10:20 am
A first round kick returner/gadget: I’m glad you aren’t drafting. We have 2 of those at the moment. I’m surprised you aren’t eulogizing Hardman as a core offensive secret weapon on this logic.
Leatherhead
May 02, 2025 at 01:10 pm
I never liked Hardman because I didn't think he was a value at WR. That's not the case with Williams.
You keep slamming Patterson as just a returner, but the dude had over 1000 yards from scrimmage one year.
Only a person who thinks the Mona Lisa is creepy would call the Rookie of the Year a draft bust.
Bitternotsour
May 02, 2025 at 01:30 pm
You realize that's what some people thought Kamara was - a gadget. Also, just because someone projects to being a good returner doesn't mean returning kicks/punts is a good idea, philosophically.
Regardless of any of that, he's another piece and it's up to LaFleur to do something with these weapons, he has zero excuses. We're deep at receiver, two quality tight ends, great at running back, wildly talented at QB and the line has been upgraded. The only spot untouched is the guy who calls the plays and his offensive assistants.
LLCHESTY
May 02, 2025 at 02:55 pm
He's not a bust but he wasn't a great pick either. Great 1st round picks don't usually go to other teams after four years without a contract squabble. He must be on team 5 or 6 by now. The Falcons used him better than anyone else and they still let him go.
Bitternotsour
May 02, 2025 at 05:31 pm
Not a great pick? he was rookie of the year, he's been to pro bowls. how exactly would you quantify a great pick?
LLCHESTY
May 03, 2025 at 12:34 am
DeAndre Hopkins was a great pick that year. Great 1st round picks at WR regularly have 1000 yard seasons. Great picks aren't allowed to leave after four years.
LLCHESTY
May 01, 2025 at 10:49 pm
That's not totally true about Patterson, he was a damn good kick returner as a rookie, averaging 35 yards a return and had 2 TDs. Williams hasn't returned a kickoff since 2021 and wasn't very good at it when he did. He didn't do much for the team that drafted him but he's put up better numbers than a lot of 1st round WRs, including 9 return TDs. Maybe if the Vikings would have used him like the Falcons did they would have been happier. Either way he worked out better for them than Treadwell.
GregC
May 01, 2025 at 08:14 pm
Denver would've been the perfect place for Williams. Sean Payton would have a field day designing plays for him. I'm hoping Matt LaFleur sees this as an opportunity to get creative. It could help keep the offense fresh. They went into the doldrums a bit at the end of last season.