Early in the season, wide receiver Mike Williams was the Chargers’ most productive pass catcher.
In the first five weeks, Williams had 31 catches, 471 yards, and six touchdowns.
However, the numbers have taken a drastic dip since then.
Over the past four weeks, Williams has only amassed ten catches, 137 yards, and zero touchdowns and averaged just 34.2 receiving yards.
After taking over as the ‘X’ receiver, a vital piece in offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi’s system, Williams ran various routes compared to previous seasons and caught everything thrown his way in the early going.
Now, his presence has appeared to be insubstantial.
You can point to a few reasons as to why Williams has been a non-factor.
First off, Williams has been dealing with some swelling in his knee from earlier this season. While head coach Brandon Staley said the swelling was a “non-factor,” it still could be holding him back. Williams dealt with the injury to the same knee back in 2019.
The next theory could be due to the dropped passes. Williams currently has three, but they have all been gimmes, including what would have been a touchdown against the Vikings. According to Pro Football Focus, Williams’ drop grade is 39.0, ranking 97th among 103 qualifying receivers.
Then, you can direct your attention to Justin Herbert, who has not been at his best in the last three of four games.
Herbert has been off the mark on some of his throws. He has had to resort to the quick passing game to mitigate the holes on the right side of the line. And, there’s been times where Williams was open, but Herbert did not see him, which speaks to some of his struggles post-snap.
For the sake of improving the team’s offensive efficiency and earning a contract extension this upcoming offseason, Williams will need to be more of a factor for both to come to fruition moving forward.
