The Green Bay Packers couldn’t resist doubling up at wide receiver early in the 2025 draft when they took Savion Williams, a Swiss Army knife out of TCU. After selecting Matthew Golden in the first round, they snagged Williams in the third.

Savion Williams had a quiet rookie season, thanks in part to a lack of opportunities on a team that tends to slow-roll even its highest-drafted rookies. Therefore, 2026 will be the time for Williams to prove he’s more than a gadget player.

Williams had 11 rushes and 10 receptions for Green Bay as a rookie. His lone touchdown came on a quick-hit pass in the flat against the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he went virtually untouched into the end zone.

FIRST CAREER TD FOR SAVION WILLIAMS!

📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/wHStLdENW7

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) October 27, 2025

At 6’4”, 220 lbs., and a 4.4 40-yard-dash speed, Williams tantalized fans early when the Packers selected him. They immediately began dreaming of the many ways Green Bay could incorporate Williams into Matt LaFleur’s offense. Instead, Williams finished the season playing just 91 snaps on offense and saw his most action at kick returner, where he was less than spectacular.

Changes to the roster this offseason, coupled with Green Bay’s natural tendency to give second-year players more responsibilities, will improve Williams’ chances in 2026. However, to what degree remains unclear.

Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks are gone. Still, Williams will be behind Christian Watson, Golden, and Jayden Reed on the depth chart. Not only will he be behind the trio, but in terms of opportunities, he likely won’t even be in the same tier as those three.

Instead, Williams could slot in at No. 4, assuming Skyy Moore continues his trend of being more of a returner than a wideout. Still, Williams should get opportunities, which is only reasonable considering they spent not-insignificant draft capital on him. That alone should motivate Green Bay to get Williams more involved.

The Packers hardly used Williams in 2025 outside of gadget plays: quick-hit passes, jet motion, orbit motion, etc. He was much more than just a gadget player at TCU, but the Packers largely confined him to gimmickry as a rookie. He would pop up on screen every couple of weeks, but rarely ever lined up at receiver and running routes out in the open.

His lone bright spot in that department came on a heave from Jordan Love against the New York Giants in Week 10.

On a third-and-10, with less than six minutes to go and trailing 20-19, Love let it rip from a collapsing pocket, slinging a rainbow pass downfield. Williams made the catch look routine, although it was far from that. His 33-yard reception set the Packers up right outside the red zone, and Green Bay would go on to score and win the game.

Jordan Love directs traffic and connects with Savion Williams downfield!

GBvsNYG on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/hRW3U1VKTn

— NFL (@NFL) November 16, 2025

That moment showed what Williams could be if the Packers give him adequate opportunity.

Williams will still be used as a gadget player in 2026, no doubt about it. However, Williams must show this summer in training camp and the preseason that he is more than that. They ran the “Frog Package” at TCU, which often featured Williams lining up at quarterback on designed run plays. It was a wild success.

In his final year at TCU, Williams had 60 receptions for 611 yards and six receiving touchdowns. He also had 51 rushes for 322 yards and six rushing scores. While he wore the label as a gadget player, he proved to be more than that at TCU. He was a viable threat downfield, capable of popping the lid off a secondary.

It’s on Williams to show he’s more than a gadget guy, and also on LaFleur to make sure he fully utilizes Williams. What both sides have going for them is that LaFleur has shown to be plenty creative with players who have some of those traits (see Jayden Reed), and Williams said after Green Bay drafted him last year that it’s exactly where he wanted to be.

So that whole week before the draft everybody was always asking me, ‘If there was one team you could get picked by, who would you want to get picked by?’ I told them it would be Green Bay. That’s where I want and to go and shoot, just seeing the area code number pop up and then just grinning the whole time.

Nobody is suggesting he will finish 2026 with 70-plus targets or emerge as competition for WR2. In Year 2, Savion Williams only needs to show he can handle more opportunities — and more conventional ones — in addition to the gimmickry and gadgetry tailored to his unique skill set.