GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are loading up on offense.
After using their first-round pick on receiver Matthew Golden – their first No. 1 pick at the position since 2002 – they doubled up on Friday by selecting TCU’s Savion Williams in the third round.
It’s like the popular Oprah Winfrey meme on social media. Everyone is getting a wide receiver, and these two happen to know each other.
When Williams was a sophomore at TCU, he hosted Golden’s recruiting visit. So, there will be some familiarity between the two as they become teammates when rookie camp begins next weekend.
Simply calling Williams a receiver undersells what his capabilities are, but that is where the Packers envision his career beginning.
“We look at him as a receiver. Obviously, he’s versatile and he can do a lot of things,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said.
Williams was asked to do a lot of things in college. He was used all over the offense at TCU. He was used in the backfield, as a receiver, and as a wildcat quarterback in TCU’s high-tempo offense.
Williams was invited to the Senior Bowl. Then, at 6-foot-4 and 222 pounds, he ran his 40 in 4.48 seconds at the Scouting Combine. Next, like Golden and second-round lineman Anthony Belton, Williams had a predraft visit with the Packers.
In essence, he’s built like a running back and was an extension of TCU’s run game, which happened out of necessity. TCU’s run game struggled, so its best hope for offensive success meant getting the ball in Williams’ hands.
“His ability with the ball in his hands” was what jumped out to Gutekunst. “Obviously, size, as well. He’s a huge man, but his determination, his ability, his elusiveness, his power, his ability to break tackles, I just thought those were the first things that stuck out to you.”
Williams was happy to do whatever he was asked. He was clear he thinks he’s a receiver, but was willing to do what was best for the team.
“Everything that my team needs me to do, that’s what I’m doing because that’s what I did my last year at TCU,” Williams said.
“They needed me. Our running game wasn’t the best so they put me back there in Wildcat and ran me and, shoot, that’s what I did to help my team. Whatever I need to do for my team, that’s what I need to do.”
Doing whatever he needed to do may have been an understatement. He carried the ball 62 times over the last two seasons, including a career-high 51 times in 2024. Not to be content with just touching the ball that way, the former high school quarterback completed all three of his passing attempts in 2024, throwing a touchdown pass to his draft classmate, Jack Bech.
He’s a member of the 2024 iteration of Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks” list due to his athleticism, and will inject more speed to an offense that added Golden on Thursday night.
He’s not just a speed threat. The skill-set he has is something that Matt LaFleur is likely salivating over.
“Versatile, very versatile,” Williams said when asked what he’s bringing to Green Bay’s offense.
LaFleur has a history with versatile weapons. In 2020, when Aaron Rodgers won his third NFL MVP and the Packers came within six points of going back to the Super Bowl, Tyler Ervin earned a role as a running back, receiver and returner.
Ervin’s stats were not gaudy. On offense, he touched the ball 24 times and gained 151 yards. But he was the team’s primary jet-motion receiver and ran all over the formation.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, LaFleur’s mentor, had Deebo Samuel in his prime when his offenses were at their peak. Asking him to be Samuel is unfair to Williams. Samuel is a unique player that is rarely found. Williams is unique, as well. Williams towers over Samuel’s 6-foot frame and outweighs Ervin by 30 pounds.
Williams possesses some traits to earn a role similar to those once occupied by Ervin in Green Bay, or Samuel in San Francisco.
For now, however, Gutekunst said they do view him as a receiver who has bonus traits that LaFleur can utilize as he sees fit.
“He is one of those guys that I think just fits Matt’s offense to a T,” Gutekunst said. “Because you guys know how we use our receivers in the blocking game. When scouts set out looking at receivers, we don’t watch blocking first, I can promise you that.
“He can do a lot of that stuff that Matt asks of our guys to do. And then, again, just the ability with the ball in his hands after the catch, I think is really elite. I’ll be interested to see how that evolves and how he evolves in his career and how Matt uses him, because I do think there are a lot of options.”
From a contractual standpoint, the same points about Golden apply to Williams.
In the immediate future, Mecole Hardman may need to start worrying about his future. The Packers have drafted two receivers, both of which have the ability to return kicks, something that Hardman was presumably brought in to help handle.
Everyone loves receiver battles during training camp, and the Packers have one of the deepest receiving corps at the bottom of the depth chart. Bo Melton and Malik Heath’s seats got a little warmer with this weekend’s draft, as well.
For the future beyond 2025, Williams likely is seen as a replacement for Christian Watson or Romeo Doubs, who will be free agents after the 2025 season, or Jayden Reed or Dontayvion Wicks, who will be free agents after the 2026 season. As much as every general manager says he’d like to keep all of his top players, that is unlikely in the case of the returning receivers.
That’s a topic for another day. For now, Gutekunst continues to stress he wants to add competition throughout his roster.
Ultimately, through the first three rounds, the selection of Williams is the most interesting. They’ve now doubled up at receiver. Competition will be heated for a roster spot and roles in 2025, and that’s just the way Gutekunst likes it.
“I think we’ve got a really good room. It’s going to be really competitive to get on the field, get snaps and get targets,” Gutekunst said. “To win in this league you have to have playmakers, and right now across the board really all the skill positions I feel good about our playmakers.”
