The Pittsburgh Steelers have been searching for a wide receiver for quite some time now. They finally acquired one on Tuesday, trading for Mike Williams from the New York Jets. Williams has been in the league for quite some time now, and when healthy, he’s been consistently good.
Williams joined the Jets this past offseason and failed to make much of an impact with the team. Once the Jets acquired Davante Adams a few weeks ago, Williams’ role on the team appeared to be in jeopardy. A combination of those things is why the Steelers were able to acquire him for only a fifth-round draft pick. While Williams should impact the offense, the media seems to vary slightly in their evaluation of the trade. We’ve seen an A+ grade, but we’ve also seen some analysts telling us to pump the breaks.
One of those is ESPN’s New York Jets reporter Rich Cimini. Cimini joined The Joe Starkey Show on 93.7 The Fan on Wednesday. He claimed that Williams isn’t quite the same player he used to be.
“I think he’s a diminished player, is what it comes down to,” Cimini said. “I mean, he’s coming off a serious injury. He had the ACL last fall. I think it was late October when he had the injury. And he didn’t have any OTAs, he did very little in training camp. They got him ready to go for opening day, which was ahead of schedule, and he just has not produced for the Jets.”
Based on the stats alone, Cimini is factually right that Williams hasn’t produced for the Jets. Williams only managed 166 receiving yards on 12 receptions this year. However, based on the recent incompetence we’ve seen from New York and the fact that, as Cimini admits, Williams didn’t have much of an offseason, he could be a better fit in Pittsburgh.
He’ll likely mesh well with the offense. Mike Williams is a perfect candidate for the deep balls Russell Wilson likes to throw. Williams immediately brings experience and raw talent to the room that it just didn’t have before. While he might be aging and has had injuries in recent years, Williams could very well make a solid impact for the Steelers this year.
