When the Las Vegas Raiders traded veteran wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to the Jacksonville Jaguars in early November, the Silver & Black\u2019s void at a fine route running pass catcher who could separate early and easily from defenders was ever apparent.<\/p>\n
With Klint Kubiak at the helm as the Raiders makeover is in full effect under a creative play caller \u2014 albeit rookie head coach \u2014 that chasm remains that Meyers left. And with Las Vegas presumably using the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the need for an elusive and electric wide receiver that can become the signal caller\u2019s best friend is amplified.<\/p>\n
To remedy this, general manager John Spytek added veteran wideout Jalen Nailor in wave one of free agency earlier this month. Heralded for immediate acceleration and sharp route running, Nailor has the skillset to fill the absence left by Meyers. But the Raiders could use more talent at wide receiver of similar ilk.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s a Clemson Tiger who will not only remind Las Vegas of Meyers, but also a productive fan favorite who came from the same school \u2014 Hunter Renfrow.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s dig into Antonio Williams.<\/p>\n
By The Numbers
Antonio Williams, Wide Receiver, Clemson<\/p>\n
2025: 10 games, 55 receptions, 604 yards, 4 touchdowns; 13 rushing attempts, 78 yards, 1 touchdownCareer: (2022-25), 43 games, 208 receptions, 2,336 yards, 21 touchdowns; 25 rushing attempts, 187 yards, 2 touchdowns<\/p>\n
Measuring in at 5-foot-11 1\/2 and 187 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine, Williams also clocked in a 4.41-second 40-yard dash time and 1.55-second 10-yard split, which highlight the wideout\u2019s acceleration and electricity. A productive four-year presence during his time at Clemson, the South Carolina native brings the rare ability to throw, catch, run, and be a return specialist \u2014 which are skills Meyers\u2019 and Renfrow brought to the table during their respective tenures as Raiders.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that ability to set up defenders with fakes and tempo changes that made Meyers and Renfrow nightmares to cover and Williams\u2019 ability to not be predictable has left many of defensive backs on ice skates. While the Clemson receiver may not have the long speed that current Las Vegas wide receivers Tre Tucker and Dont\u2019e Thornton Jr. bring to the table, Williams\u2019 instant acceleration showcases how fast he plays whistle to whistle which wears down defensive backs \u2014 especially when he varies in the feints that Renfrow made so famous.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure Raider Nation remembers that turn-and-go China route that Renfrow used to make even elite cornerbacks look dumb, Williams has that ability, too. He\u2019s the type of pass catcher creative play callers love to concoct devious plays for, and Kubiak is that type of orchestrator.<\/p>\n
Williams isn\u2019t only a technician of a route runner, he has reliable and strong hands, the toughness to go over the middle and through traffic, and he\u2019s an elite yards after catch (YAC threat).<\/p>\n
The obvious knock on Williams is his size \u2014 or lack of it. A shade under six-feet tall and at 187 pounds, his draft projections have him limited to slot receiver which can limit him to a Day 2 or Day 3 selection (middle rounds). Which is fine and dandy for a Raiders team that can use the fourth-round pick (117th overall) it obtained from the Jaguars for Meyers.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look at the downsides Williams brings as a prospect (every single player in the draft brings downsides, after all.)<\/p>\n
Viewed as more slippery than explosive, teams can have issues reconciling his timed speed with the absence of a top-end speedster they\u2019ll see on game tape. Whether it\u2019s on the boundary or inside in the slot, Williams is plenty quick but teams may not see defensive backs playing cushion coverage to mitigate the differences in speed like they would for Tucker or Thornton.<\/p>\n
While running sharp routes, Williams can use refinement in fluidity. Meaning getting his hips to sink further for even tighter turns on his routes. His ability to freestyle \u2014 which has confused many defenders \u2014 can be detrimental to a coaching staff that prefer more attention to detail and rigidity \u2014 i.e. no freestyle, run them this way. We saw exactly this with a prior coaching staff when it came to Renfrow, for example. Some view Williams getting more seasoned coaching at the pro level will make his route running even more lethal, but there are concerns that an NFL team may take away what makes Williams a nightmare to matchup with.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the rigors of sustained pro-level physicality.<\/p>\n
Williams did miss games to nagging injuries in both the 2023 and 2025 seasons and he played the full slate of games in 2022 and 2024. The latter of which where he put up his best numbers: 75 receptions for 904 yards and 11 touchdowns; 7 carries for 101 yards and another touchdown; 2-for-2 for 62 yards and a touchdown passing; in 14 games in 2024.<\/p>\n
Williams\u2019 career 39 punt returns for 351 yards (average of nine yards per return) would certainly help ramp up the competition in special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis\u2019 room, alongside Kubiak\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n
For a Raiders team that can use all the quality talent it can get, a receiver who can put defenders in a blender with his route running has strong and quick hands, and toughness to play inside, Williams should appeal to the Silver & Black. This particular Tiger is a do-it-all type and the Raiders need help in a variety of ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the Las Vegas Raiders traded veteran wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to the Jacksonville Jaguars in early November,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,7275,2492,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":["post-841317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-las-vegas-raiders","tag-football","tag-las-vegas","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-las-vegas-raiders-depth-chart","tag-las-vegas-raiders-draft","tag-lasvegas","tag-lasvegasraiders","tag-nfl","tag-raiders"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116313730049150536","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}