The Pittsburgh Steelers exhausted all options looking for wide receiver help before the trade deadline and ended up with former first-round pick Mike Williams. He had a game-winning touchdown catch in his first game. Great start, right? The only problem is that remains his only target with the Steelers.
In three games, Williams has played 53 offensive snaps. That shows that the team is comfortable enough with his knowledge of the playbook, but he still hasn’t gotten any looks in the passing game.
George Pickens was asked after Friday’s practice if Williams is doing things to help other guys get open or otherwise contributing in ways outside of his unimpressive stats.
“Yeah, you know the game is just, it’s more than passing, too,” Pickens said via Post-Gazette Sports on YouTube. “He does block and stuff, too, very well. So he affects the game.”
Arthur Smith is a run-first offensive coordinator when game flow allows for it. The importance of wide receiver blocking can’t be overstated in his system. We have seen it turn five-yard runs into 15-yard runs this season.
Williams is definitely capable of blocking with his 6-3, 220-pound frame. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s been roughly average as a blocker in his three games with the Steelers. His average grade is 61.7, which is quite a bit better than his run-blocking grade with the Jets over the first half of the season.
There wasn’t really an example of Williams making a key block against the Browns, but he did de-cleat a defender on the play below.
He only ran a handful of routes against the Browns, and the majority of them were not really schemed well for him to get the ball. The majority of his routes were short or intermediate routes that weren’t the first read. The one sprint-out play that was designed for him was covered up too well and QB Russell Wilson ended up tucking the ball and running out of bounds.
Ideally, the Steelers take a deep shot or two in Williams’ direction per game. If they show him to be a deep threat opposite Pickens, then defenses will be forced to leave stuff open underneath more than they do, helping lighten the stacked boxes the Steelers frequently have to deal with.
Perhaps he will have a statement game against the Bengals to help get the Steelers’ offense back on track.
