The New England Patriots have gotten some high-quality contributions from several members of their 2025 rookie class so far this season, but Kyle Williams has not consistently been among them. The 69th overall selection in this year’s draft has caught just three of 11 targets for 92 yards and a touchdown.
There is still time to fix his lack of production and inability to get on the same page as quarterback Drake Maye — rookie development is never following a fixed scheduled — but the slow start so
far still has fans worried. Too fresh are the memories of Ja’Lynn Polk, Tyquan Thornton or N’Keal Harry, one has to assume.
As a consequence, 54% of participants in the latest SB Nation Reacts survey said that, yes, they are concerned about the youngster. The comment section somewhat reflected that split.
Felkey
Was concerned the moment we drafted him. He was supposed to have questionable hands and catching technique. Clearly qualities one should look for in a receiver. But now it’s even better as it seems like he can’t even learn the playbook. Why is it this team is collectively allergic to drafting good WRs before round 6?KissBillsRings
WAY too soon to be worried about a rookie that low on the totem pole & only saw action due to an injury to Boutte(who took 3 years) to get where he is now….he’s learning a new system & Josh, though an excellent OC, runs a huge learning curve program….all good here, I’m more interested in knowing if the kid is smart & is doing the mental things needed to learn the system & playbook, we know he has speed & is not fragile so he’s got those things going for himscenario
People learn at different speeds. He’s a rookie whose 5th on the depth chart. I’d give him another year because of his speed. If he can get to the point where he catches a couple of passes a game for 25 yards he’d be useful as a bottom of the depth chart receiver.Patshole49
He has been given chances. Has not shown much. Heard him talk and seems to be making excuses for. himself. Temperament not promising.Twentyeighttothree
JaLynn Polk 2.0bobart
I’m concerned but not yet pessimistic. His biggest problem seems to be along the lines of understanding plays and reading defenses — which seems like it should be the exact sort of learnable piece of the puzzle that you’d expect a lot of improvement from rookies / 2nd years. When he runs the right routes, he often gets separation.
Can Williams learn how to run routes in this offense? That’s TBD. But I’d rather have a rookie receiver struggling with that than one who can’t get separation (a la N’Keal).Arschloch
Perhaps this is wishful thinking yet call me a believer that the kid will put it together. He’s not Polk 2.0, he showed his potential on that long TD and it will come. Fact is, whose spot is he going to take? All our WRs in front of him are ballin‘.Patriots&Meditation
He’s not baker, Polk, or nkeal, he gets separation often. I’m not sold, but optimistic.BirdStealsTheBall
It’s ok to show immediate survey results. The kids got some wheels but I’m very concerned like I’m on a first date and she went to the bathroom over ten minutes ago.luckyfukikentucky
To me Kyle seems like a project player that may end up firing or backfire. Not every player comes on quickly sometimes it takes 3/4 to a full season for a player to get to where he has to be. In his favor he has both the speed and separation, catching ability was a question mark coming out of college and we can’t really ascertain on how good it is now as a lot of the time he hasn’t been where he needs to be in a timing based offense.
The question then becomes can he master his route running and timing quickly enough to flourish in this offense? I think he can it will just take longer than expected.ShaynaandDanny
He is a rookie in an offensive system that Vets have a hard time grasping right away, give him time… god the bobble heads just can’t get that through their heads this is not a college offense.
All in all, this week’s survey results look as follows:
sign up here to participate in future surveys." data-portal-copyright="" />
Besides the question about Kyle Williams, the Patriots managed to take the league lead in fan optimism. Their 99% mark following last Thursday’s win over the New York Jets tops the list ahead of the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos, who both sit at 97% heading into Week 12.
And if the fan projection for the game turns out accurate — with 96% projecting a win, and 67% a victory by more than one score — that number will not go down anytime soon.
