TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Rookie receiver Mike Williams is resisting any temptation he may have to gloat after quickly establishing himself as a potential starter with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The team won’t have a real depth chart for another month, but the fourth round draft pick out of Syracuse – talented yet viewed by some NFL scouts as a risky pick because of off-the-field issues in college – is already working with the first team offense in training camp.
“I’m not really satisfied. I still have a lot to prove,” the 23-year-old said. “But people see the direction I’m going, and that’s the direction I’m going to keep going. Basically if I keep it up and keep it up, people are going to see the real Mike Williams, and not what they’ve been hearing.”
Williams was the 101st player selected in the draft. He may well have been picked earlier if not for an academic suspension in 2008 and another off-field situation that led to him leaving Syracuse with three games remaining in the 2009 season.
the player’s background, speaking to Syracuse coach Doug Marrone and others.
Coach Raheem Morris and general manager Mark Dominik also spent time with the 6-foot-4, 214-pound receiver at the scouting combine and during a predraft visit to Tampa before concluding they would not be inheriting a problem by drafting Williams, who grew up in Buffalo, N.Y.
Williams caught 10 touchdown passes as a sophomore in 2007, when he set a school record by catching a TD pass in nine consecutive games. He sat out the entire 2008 season after being caught cheating on an exam, but re-enrolled at Syracuse in January 2009 and had 49 receptions for 746 yards and six TDs last season before Marrone – without elaborating – announced his star receiver “voluntarily took himself off the team.”
“There’s no secret you had to do a proper evaluation,” Morris said. “The thing is he was receptive to everything that we asked him to do in order for us to help us help him.
“He has had no problem. He’s worked hard. He’s on the right path. … He could be special. I talk about it with him all the time. He found out how hard it is when you’re not on a football team, and you’re not playing and doing things you love to do. I don’t think he wants to mess that up again.”
e second round.
Still, the rookie insists things couldn’t have worked out better for him.
“I knew it affected me, but if it didn’t I wouldn’t be here,” Williams said. “I wouldn’t rather be any other place. I’m glad I’m here.”
The rookie’s bid to earn a starting job began with what Morris said was a “dynamic offseason,” in which Williams stood out during minicamp and voluntary workouts.
Benn, the 39th overall pick out of Illinois, hasn’t stood out as much in his bid for the other starting receiver job.
Morris stressed it’s early.
“It’s kind of hard to compare the two guys. Two different athletes, two different people. Who’s to say Mike Williams – if not for the background – wouldn’t have been a first- or second-round pick as well,” the coach said.
“You don’t want to get down on a guy because one guy’s excelling a little bit more, one guy’s excelling a little bit faster. He’ll catch up. We’ve got no problem waiting for him to catch up. He’s shown flashes of everything that we thought he could do. … Now, it’s a matter of getting him to where he’s comfortable and he’s able to just go out there and play.”
Add A Comment