The Miami Dolphins appeared to strike gold with their undrafted free agent signing of wide receiver Preston Williams last season, but the cinderella story was cut short due to an ACL injury sustained by Williams against the New York Jets. Fast forward to the here and now and Williams is offering the same flashes of dominance that seemed to indicate he was a steal last fall — making a startling recovery from his injury and positioning to be a critical contributor for Miami’s passing offense in 2020.
The first week of padded practices is in the books — and not only is Williams a full participant, he’s dominating his reps according to many of the practice reports streaming out of the Dolphins’ practice facility in Davie.
“Wide receiver Preston Williams looks like he’s close to 100 percent as can be from a ACL year he sustained last season.”
– Omar Kelly, Sun-Sentinel“Preston Williams makes the most plays of anyone on that field.”
– Armando Salguero, Miami Herald
This is a huge win for the Dolphins, whose wide receiver depth took a hit ahead of padded practices with the decisions of Allen Hurns and Albert Wilson to sit out the 2020 season. But Williams can ill afford another season of injury — so rolling the momentum he’s established through the entire 2020 season will be a big variable in determining just how urgent the Dolphins’ wide receiver needs are this offseason.
A healthy Williams figures to be a high-volume target regardless of who is the quarterback and the expectation is that Williams will step inside and play the slot role for the Dolphins, leaving speedy Jakeem Grant to align on the perimeter and look to “take the top off the defense” vertically. There’s plenty of hurdles ahead but Williams getting off to this hot of a start on such a quick turnaround from his injury is a promising development for the Dolphins.