With Kayshon Boutte (hamstring) out last Sunday vs. the Buccaneers, Williams ($2,000 for Showdown) saw his first real taste of NFL action and the rookie made his presence know early with a 72-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter.
On this reception, Williams peaked at 21.78 MPH, which was the second-highest speed for an offensive player in Week 10, trailing only his teammate in TreVeyon Henderson ($10,600), who hit 22.01 MPH on a touchdown run.
While this was a great highlight play by Williams in a strong, road win for the Patriots, this was his lone catch for the entire game. Williams saw only two targets in total and while he ran a season-high 21 routes, this was on 36 dropbacks for Drake Maye ($12,000), resulting in a modest 58% route rate.
Boutte will remain sidelined for Thursday’s matchup with the Jets, so Williams should continue to run a route on about half his team’s dropbacks, but the likelihood of him seeing enough targets to produce a strong fantasy score or the likelihood of him catching another long touchdown is low.
Williams hasn’t been a great target earner this season, seeing a target on just 9% of his routes and New York isn’t an appealing spot for receivers, with them allowing the fifth-fewest receptions (92) and the ninth-lowest completion percentage to the position (60.1%). To make matters worse, New England is unlikely to throw the ball at a high clip, as huge 12.5-point home favorites for this AFC East matchup on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Chasing Williams’ 14.2 FPTS performance from last week isn’t smart and he isn’t worth a start in any format this week.
