Yardbarker Horiz

Friday, October 22, 2010

Another Mike Williams Payback Week

What was it like for Mike Williams on draft day?  Agonizing, to be sure.  But, at some point, you have to think it turned over to a bit of anger as nine teams picked college wideouts before the Buccaneers made him the 101st pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Who knew revenge would come so early?  Acutally, I know one person who did . . .

If you are a Buccaneers fan, you know that Williams is currently tops among Rookie wide receivers (if not, you need to stop by more often).  Being the Lead Dog in the rookie class is in itself a bit of sweet revenge.  Add the fact Williams has been nominated for Rookie of the Week three times already this season and you can see how he's making his point: o n the field.  He is putting doubters to shame (see "Worst Fourth Round Pick").

There were eight teams who picked wide receivers before Mike Williams:   Titans, Broncos, Patriots, Panthers, Cardinals, Steelers, Bengals, Seahawks, and Rams (Well, it's nine teams if you count the Buccaneers for picking Arrelious Benn in the 2nd round, but Tampa Bay was smart enough to make the pick).  It's gotta get under his skin, doesn't it?

Success is still the best revenge.  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently 2 (Panthers, Bengals) and 1 (Pittsburgh) against the teams who passed on Williams.  This week he gets another shot at a team on "His List" with the Saint Louis Rams coming to town with Mardy Gilyard.  Gilyard was selected just two spots ahead of Williams in the draft and has 6 catches for 63 yards so far this season.  Williams has 23 catches for 283 yards.  And don't bother to bring up the young quarterback in Saint Louis to explain the difference -- Josh Freeman has played just eight more NFL games than Sam Bradford.

And it's not just win/loss success but overall success which is running high for Williams:  if he keeps up his current pace, Williams will rack up over 900 yards this season.  I'm sure an extremely productive rookie season would feel great going into the offseason next spring.

And don't forget next week: It's the Cardinals, and more sweet revenge!

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