When you are acknowledged as the No. 2 wide receiver on your own team, it’s hard for fantasy league owners to get overly excited about you. But Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams is a distinct departure from that stereotype. Teamed with WR Keenan Allen and QB Justin Herbert, all 3 of them have quickly turned into fantasy must-have players.
Below, we look at Mike Williams‘ 2022 fantasy football average draft position (ADP) and where you should draft him.
Williams had never caught 50 passes in a season prior to last season. He shattered that with 76 catches for 1,146 yards and 9 touchdowns. What has made him special is he creates size mismatches downfield consistently, which helps explain his gaudy reception average (15.1 yards).
Mike Williams’ ADP: 46.64
(ADP data courtesy of MyFantasyLeague.com; last updated at time of this publishing – ADPs continually change as more drafts occur)
Despite being the 2nd ranked fantasy wide receiver on the Chargers, Williams is the 16th-ranked player at his position. That makes it possible for someone to have Allen as their WR1 and Williams as their WR2 just 2 rounds later.
Williams finds himself sandwiched in between a bunch of No. 1 receivers in his draft vicinity. He is a shade behind D.J. Moore (Carolina Panthers) at 43.77 and Diontae Johnson (Pittsburgh Steelers) at 45.67 and a little ahead of Terry McLaurin (Washington Commanders) at 49.93 and Courtland Sutton (Denver Broncos) at 50.17.
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Mike Williams’ 2021 stats
Games: 16
Receptions | targets: 76 | 129
Receiving yards: 1,146
Receiving touchdowns: 9
Where should you draft Williams?
It’s never easy to take the 2nd fiddle in a passing offense as your No. 2 overall fantasy receiver on your roster, but Williams checks an awful lot of boxes. His size (6-foot-4, 220 lbs) makes him a dangerous downfield matchup with any defensive back and his big-play ability is off the charts.
Herbert has found a way to keep both Allen and Williams satisfied with their roles and the fact Williams caught 27 more passes in 2021 than he had caught in any previous season of his career is a testament to how potent the Chargers can be.
While there are still a lot of teams’ top wide receivers still available for the taking, I wouldn’t begrudge anyone who took Williams ahead of either Johnson or Moore. His No. 16 ranking among wide receivers is spot on and, in my view, can only go higher instead of lower. When it comes time to choose between Williams and someone else, be sure to assess who that other player’s quarterback is. Is he better than Herbert? If not, take Williams.
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