When New England Patriots fans and analysts discuss possible breakout candidates for the team during the offseason, wide receiver Kyle Williams is often mentioned.
A third-round pick of the Patriots in 2025, Williams showed flashes of explosiveness during his rookie campaign.
However, Williams played just 31 percent of the offense’s snaps over 17 games and finished his first season with 10 catches for 209 yards and three touchdowns.
The expectation has been that Williams will garner a bigger role and produce more in 2026. Yet, if his usage early in training camp is any indication, he has an uphill climb to meet that expectation.
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Kyle Williams operating as WR7?
According to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald, Williams appeared to be operating as the No. 7 wide receiver at practice on Monday, when the team held a walkthrough.
“K. Williams looks like WR7, behind Brown, Boutte, Doubs, Hollins, Douglas and Chism, who ran with starters,” Callahan reported.
“On the Williams (WR7) note, he did take reps with Maye earlier in this walkthrough practice, and there’s a looooong way to go in camp. But for today, when the offensive personnel was divided up late, he was not among the 6 WRs with Maye and the other offensive starters,” Callahan added.
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While the Patriots do have a crowded room at wide receiver with A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs and Kayshon Boutte as their top three receivers, we did expect Williams to be higher in the pecking order than No. 7. At the very least, we would have slotted him in ahead of Efton Chism.
No matter where fans and analysts expected him to be on the depth chart going into training camp, this just goes to show that Williams has a lot of ground to make up to garner any semblance of a significant role out of training camp.
Some hope for Kyle Williams
Head coach Mike Vrabel has been very complimentary of Williams this offseason and even listed him among the team’s offseason award winners, so he has clearly made progress.
“Kyle’s strength and his ability to manage as a speed player has improved, and he’s really talking to the strength coaches,” he said of Williams in May. “He’s embraced that idea of lifting and how critical that is for all players, but especially a younger one as a receiver.”
Vrabel’s praise for Williams makes this situation even more surprising. That said, we also know Vrabel can be very hard on young players and he often makes them go the extra mile to earn playing time.
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Another reason for hope for Williams is the future of Boutte, who has been the subject of trade rumors after the team added Brown and Doubs this offseason.
The Patriots may move Boutte, who did not take part in OTAs before showing up for mandatory minicamp, before the start of the season.
While the subtraction of one wide receiver won’t be enough to cement Williams in a big role, he would at least move up one spot in the pecking order by default and would have one less receiver to jump.
We would also point out, as Callahan did, that there is still a long way to go in training camp, and Williams has ample time to make up ground in the wide receiver pecking order.
