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Mike Williams fantasy football updates for Week 13

Chargers WR Mike Williams looks primed for a breakout. We’re tracking his fantasy performances and news updates throughout the season.

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams runs after a catch during individual drills at Jack Hammett Sports Complex.  Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 13?

Williams is coming off the bye in Week 12 after a two-catch, 76-yard day in the loss to the Chiefs. While the receptions remain low, Williams YPR continues to be massive, sitting at 20 on the year. His salary remains relatively the same for this week at $4,600 against the Broncos, who have been one of the best secondaries in the league. Williams, per the usual, will be a boom-or-bust option who has still yet to reach the end zone this season.

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 11?

The Chargers and Williams are both coming off disappointing weeks in which they fell to the Raiders by a score of 26-24. Williams pulled one of his disappearing acts in this game, catching only two of his three targets for 55 yards and 7.5 DKFP. Going against one of the worst secondaries in the league, Philip Rivers couldn’t get much going in this game and ended up getting sacked five times while dealing with an immense amount of pressure. So while we can’t put all the blame on Williams, it wasn’t the came many expected, even with averaging 27.5 YPR.

Week 11 will see the Chargers in prime time for the second straight week as they face the Chiefs on Monday night. Salaries have yet to be released but I imagine we won’t be seeing anything too high for Williams. He continues to be in search of his first touchdown despite racking him some serious yardage on a week-to-week basis. The Chiefs secondary has quietly been one of the tougher ones in the league and has allowed an average of just 93 yards against the Packers, Vikings and Titans over the last three weeks. With Williams moving around the field often, he should see a mix of Bashaud Breeland and Charvarius Ward, both of whom are beatable matchups for him. It’s just a matter of getting the ball in his hand, which has proven to be a challenge as of late.

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 10?

The big game from Williams we’ve been waiting for finally came to fruition in Week 9 against the Packers. Seeing only four targets, Williams turned that into three receptions for 111 yards, good for 17.3 DKFP. While he didn’t find the end zone, the potential we’ve been waiting for from Williams finally showed some life. After this week, Williams is averaging 15.1 air yards per target, which is amongst the highest in the league. Now, if only he could start reaching the end zone in the progress.

If there was a week he could do so, this would be the one. They’re on the short week schedule as they face the Raiders on Thursday night. This secondary was bad, to begin with, but was just annihilated by the Lions in Week 9 to the tune of 287 yards on 15 receptions and two touchdowns. To see a team average 19.1 YPR is almost laughable but goes to show what can be done here, especially with someone like Williams. In Single-Game Showdown, Williams’ price has yet to be released but regardless of that, he’s in an incredible spot to perform well.

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 9?

During the week, it looked as if Williams could end up being the WR1 in this offense as Keenan Allen was a game-time decision with a hamstring injury. Allen would end up playing in this game against the Bears and took over the target share as he did with 10. Williams would be tied for second in target with six, going on to catch three of them for 69 yards and 9.9 DKFP. Williams continues to be held out of the end zone and hasn’t scored one since Week 17 of last season against the Broncos.

Week 9 sees Williams’ price rise up $600 in salary against the Packers, which is puzzling. For someone that is averaging only 9.7 DKFP, its odds to see such a drastic rise in his salary. He faces a Packers secondary that’s been good overall but has allowed an average of 230 receiving yards over their last four games. With Williams continuing to split lining up on both sides of the field, he’ll see coverage from both CB Kevin King and Jaire Alexander. Until he starts finding the end zone, Williams remains a fringe receiver play on a week-to-week basis.

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 8?

Williams continues to see a healthy dose of targets on a weekly basis, grabbing six in the Week 7 loss to the Titans by a score of 23-20. Of those targets, he grabbed four for 47 yards and 47 DKFP. Williams has failed to make a significant impact yet this season due to injuries and simply not doing enough on the field despite averaging 7.3 targets per game. Williams is also still in search of his first touchdown.

Week 8 doesn’t look to be where things will turn around for Willams against the Bears. Even after allowing the Saints to score 36 points on them last week, they’re still allowing an average of just 32.4 DKFP, 150 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Williams continues to line up almost evenly on both sides of the field, so it’s hard to nail down who he’ll see in the majority of coverage. His best matchup would be against CB Kyle Fuller, who has been targeted against 42 times allowing 31 receptions for 363 yards and a touchdown. Even still, it’s hard to trust Williams, who dropped $600 in salary to $4,000, in a tough matchup where he hasn’t been producing in softer ones.

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 7?

If you watched the Sunday night football game with hopes of something from the Chargers offense, first and foremost, my apologies. On the bright side, Williams was one of the bright spots, catching five of his 10 targets for 72 yards and 12.2 DKFP Despite not drawing a red zone target, Williams is still active in that realm, owning a 25% of the team’s total. After a decent showing against the Steelers in Week 6, Williams is averaging 7.6 targets, 60.6 receiving yards and 3.8 receptions per game.

Week 7 bring a matchup against the Titans, who were just shutout by the Broncos in Week 6. They have a numbers of problems they’re dealing with, including benching Marcus Mariota in favor of Ryan Tannehill. Williams lines up all over the field, as evidenced by his weekly snap count. Of all the spots he lines up, the right side of the field has a slight edge at 34%. With that in mind, he’d be seeing CB Malcolm Butler, which is a VERY favorable matchup, Butler has been targeted against 34 times allowing 25 receptions for 334 yards and three touchdowns. Don’t be afraid to fire him up with a very friendly $4,600 salary this week.

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 6?

Despite facing a very tough secondary in the Broncos, Williams came away with the most productive week of the Chargers’ receivers, catching six of his 13 targets for 74 yards and 13.4 DKFP. It’s nothing impressive but it just goes to show how tough this secondary has been. While he’s yet to reach the end zone, Williams is now averaging seven targets and 57 yards through four games this season.

Week 6 brings a matchup against the Steelers, which will be off the main slate and played during the Sunday primetime spot at 8:15 p.m. ET. While salaries have yet to be released for that game, Williams should be considered a boom-or-bust option this week. He lines up evenly on both sides of the field so he’ll see a mixture of coverage from CB Steven Nelson and Joe Haden. Williams will have a big height advantage on both cornerbacks, as they’re listed at 5’11”. Williams is listed at 6’4” and 220 lbs. Neither cornerback brings a favorable matchup but Nelson has allowed ten receptions on 20 targets for 137 yards and a touchdown. It’ll be hard to rely upon Williams to come through with another big game, as Phillip Rivers loves getting the ball to Keenan Allen, who is averaging 10.6 targets per game.

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 5?

Williams did not take the field in the Chargers 30-10 win over the Dolphins which saw a surprising name take the majority of the targets. In what was expected to be another big game from Keenan Allen, it was minimum priced Dontrelle Inman who saw seven targets, catching five for 76 yards and 12.6 DKFP. Allen caught five of his six targets for 48 yards and 9.8 DKFP.

Williams status for Week 5 us unknown at this point as he didn’t practice at all ahead of Week 4. If he suits up, he checks in with a $300 discount from Week 4, dropping down to $4,500 against the Broncos. This wouldn’t be a spot you’d be looking to use Williams, as the Broncos secondary has been stellar, allowing just an average of 17.1 DKFP, 125 receiving yards and only two touchdowns. Williams’ plays almost equally on either side of the field, meaning he’d see CB Chris Harris Jr and Isaac Yiadom. Yiadom would be the more attractive matchup as he’s allowed 156 yards on 13 receptions but the health of Williams continues to be a concern.

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 4?

Williams was once again quiet on the field despite drawing a season-high seven targets. He was only able to haul down three of them for 45 yards and 7.5 DKFP. Williams was on the field for almost every snap, taking the field on 69 of the 74 total. Essentially, if your name isn’t Keenan Allen or Austin Ekeler, your name isn’t being called in this offense.

Despite another quiet week, Williams only saw a $100 decrease in his salary down to $4,800 in Week 4. Luckily for him and the Chargers, they have the easiest matchup on the schedule against the Dolphins. He should draw CB Eric Rowe in coverage, who has allowed 11 receptions on 16 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns. With Xavien Howard likely blanketing Allen, this could end up being a good game for Williams, who is in desperate need of getting a boost to his season. Of course, we do run the risk of a blowout and thus Williams won’t be much of a factor as the game progresses.

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 3?

Williams ended up being active for Week 2 against the Lions after drawing a questionable tag up until Sunday. Williams said the Chargers were being cautious with him in this matchup but he still logged 40 snaps, which was one shy of his total last week before exiting the game late in the fourth quarter. Despite the “cautious” approach, Williams received five targets in which he made three catches for 83 yards. It wasn’t a big game for him but he was much more productive than Week 1 where he only made two catches on three targets for 29 yards.

Williams remains mostly off the radar for the time being. Unless we hear that he’s fully healthy and off the injury report, it’s best to proceed with caution here. We saw Keenan Allen continue to soak up the targets, drawing 15 last week, giving him 25 total on the year. Williams primarily plays on the right so he should mostly see CB Jonathan Jones in coverage. Jones was brutal in coverage last week against the Jaguars, allowing six receptions on his nine targets for 82 yards. If Williams is healthy, he certainly has an appealing matchup to target against.

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 2?

If your name wasn’t Austin Ekeler or Keenan Allen, you wan’t garnering much attention from Philip Rivers against the Colts. Williams had a very quiet game in which he only drew three targets, catching two of those for 29 yards and 4.9 DKFP. Of the 41 snaps he played, seven came out of the slot while the remaining 34 were wide, splitting them evenly on the left and right side with 17 each. Williams was forced out of this game due to a knee injury late in the fourth quarter, ending his day on a frustrating note.

Williams has a slight bump in salary heading into Week 2, going from $5,300 to $5,500. For someone who didn’t get much attention last week, it’s not a trend we’re happy to see. When you consider Cooper Kupp ($6,000), Josh Gordon ($5,800) and Michael Gallup ($5,600) are all within $500 of him, he currently sit at an unappealing price point.

Reports have come out that Williams was moving well after the game, which bodes well for his status against the Lions in Week 2. While we’ll need to keep an eye on his practice participation throughout the week, its expected he’ll take the field barring a setback.

The more concerning aspect here was his lack of attention from Rivers. Even in an offense that didn’t feature Melvin Gordon, Williams couldn’t take advantage of any additional looks. While it was only one week, the Lions don’t exactly make for an easy matchup. Despite a late comeback from the Cardinals, the Lions secondary held their receiver in check until the fourth quarter. Until we get a more clear indication of his status heading into this match and some indication that he’s in the offensive plans, Williams is a fringe play heading into Week 2.

Mike Williams 2019 fantasy football preview

If you’re not excited for Williams to potentially breakout in 2019, you may be running with the wrong crew. For someone who caught 43 passes last year, he turned that into 664 yards and 10 touchdowns. Now he’s really set to explode with the loss of Tyrell Williams, who is now a member of the Oakland Raiders. So like I said, if you’re not excited for Williams, what are you excited for in life?

Williams should no doubt see a large uptick in targets, expanding on the measly 4.1 he averaged in 2018. While T. Williams wasn’t exactly hogging the target share, averaging four per game, the need to feed the ball more to Williams is alive and well. We’ve already seen Keenan Allen dealing with an ankle injury and while he’s expected to dress for Week 1, his health is always an issue. The potential holdout into the regular season for Melvin Gordon would also help Williams, as Phillip Rivers threw 60% of the time Gordon was off the field. Williams saw 14.6% of the target share amongst receivers in those scenarios, which was the second-highest on the team behind Allen who had 23.7%

What is Mike Williams fantasy football status, DFS price for Week 1?

If you’re looking at the DraftKings app on your phone, you’ll probably have to swipe up on the screen multiple times before you reach Williams at $5,300. For someone that is very much the solidified WR2 on this team, it feels like a very fair price. With that in mind, he’ll be dealing with a Colts team that was very tough on opposing receivers, allowing an average of just 124 receiving yards and 28.7 DKFP. While he isn’t my favorite play for Week 1, he’ll certainly be in line for some big time production as the season progresses. At least when a “Williams” on the Chargers scores this season, we won’t have to figure out which one it was.

Mike Williams DraftKings salary 2019

Week Salary Opp Performance
Week Salary Opp Performance
1 $5,300 vs. Colts 4.9
2 $5,500 @ Lions 11.3
3 $4,900 vs. Texans 7.5
4 $4,800 @ Dolphins 0
5 $4,500 vs. Broncos 13.4
6 $4,600 vs. Steelers (Showdown) 12.2
7 $4,600 @ Titans 8.7
8 $4,000 @ Bears 9.9
9 $4,600 vs. Packers 17.3
10 $11,100 @ Raiders (Showdown) 7.5
11 $8,700 vs. Chiefs (Showdown) 9.6
12 N/A BYE 0
13 $4,600 @ Broncos

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