Isaiah Williams limited to two touches vs. Browns

Williams, once again subbing for Adonai Mitchell (finger), had the lone big play of the day for the lifeless New York offense. He caught a 58-yard score from Geno Smith after outrunning the Chicago secondary in the fourth quarter. Williams, who ran a route on 17 of the team’s 19 drop backs, will be a deep league flex option in Week 5 against the Browns if Mitchell remains sidelined.

Williams was technically the team’s No. 2 receiver today because of the absence of Adonai Mitchell. The role amounted to almost no presence in the box score as Geno Smith simply peppered his tight ends with the targets left behind by Mitchell. Williams is not on the fantasy radar for Week 4 despite the uptick in snaps.

Williams operated as the clear third wide receiver, playing on 61 of the team’s 74 snaps and running a route on 43 of their 50 dropbacks, which was actually more than Adonai Mitchell. Almost all of Williams’ work is on screen passes and quick slants where he can use his speed, but if he’s going to be on the field this much, he could be a sneaky deep league play against the Lions in Week 3.

Cooper played extensively in the Jets’ first preseason game, prompting The Athletic’s Zach Rosenblatt to write that WR Isaiah Williams appeared to have overtaken Cooper for the starting slot receiver job. This week, Cooper out-snapped WR Isaiah Williams six to one on the first drive. Williams continued playing on the second drive before rotating with Cooper on the third. PFF’s Nathan Jahnke notes that when Cooper returned, he lined up out wide while Williams manned the slot. Williams caught 3-of-5 targets for 17 yards and one fumble, though it was recovered by the Jets. It appears as though Cooper may have regained his spot as the Jets’ WR3 behind WR1 Garrett Wilson and WR2 Adonai Mitchell. Cooper still makes for a risky late-round dart throw, but he will get more chances to contribute.

We blurbed about Cooper playing deep into the preseason game on Friday — never a great sign — and this backs that up. Williams, an outstanding return man in his rookie season, enters the deep sleeper conversation at wideout.

Cooper entered the game on the Jets’ second drive, after the established starters called it a night. The usage meant Cooper played behind WR Isaiah Williams, who played 7-of-11 snaps on the first drive. Cooper continued playing through the Jets’ sixth drive. According to Rotoworld’s own Kyle Dvorchak, the last non-quarterback first-round rookie to play that late is former Titans WR Treylon Burks, back in his 2022 rookie season. This does not bode well for Cooper’s early-season usage.

Those numbers were team highs in targets, catches, and receiving yards on the day. That says a lot about how bad this Jets offense looked. Williams is primarily a return man, but he was forced into a much larger role in the Jets’ passing attack late in the season and finished with 26 catches on 36 targets for 193 yards. The 24-year-old — somehow voted team MVP last week by the players — showed enough juice in that role and on special teams to be a strong candidate to remain the fifth receiver on the Jets next year.

Williams has seemingly overtaken John Metchie as the Jets’ No. 2 receiver. He has 14 catches over the past three weeks to Metchie’s eight. Williams’ late-season surge has been impressive, but it’s more impactful for his future earnings than it is for fantasy managers. He is buried in the WR5/6 range heading into the final week of the year.

The news was first reported by Pro Football Talk. Lazard will reportedly look to sign with a contender. We wish him luck in that endeavor. Lazard has 10 catches on 18 targets over ten games this season in a Jets offense that has been desperate for wideout production. He has been targeted on 13 percent of his pass routes through Week 15. Lazard could always land with longtime friend and former teammate Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh if the Steelers are looking to add more receiver depth ahead of the postseason. Jets beat writer Connor Hughes said Lazard had “questionable practice habits, and rubbed some teammates the wrong way with way he acted once Aaron Rodgers arrived” in 2023. Lazard’s departure from New York could open up more playing time for electric WR Isaiah Williams, who had six receptions for 53 yards last week against the Jaguars.

It was a career day for Williams, who ranked second among Jets receivers in routes (30) and third in snaps with 41. Williams has played primarily on special teams this season and currently leads the league in punt return yards (396) and has two punt return touchdowns. He seemed to show good chemistry with Brady Cook, who he has presumably spent a lot of time with in practice, but his strong performance in Week 15 could warrant a stronger look over the final three weeks of the season. Williams has played 30-plus snaps and run 20-plus routes in back-to-back weeks. He’s worth a stash in deeper leagues ahead of next week’s game against the Saints.