Standing at a height just over five feet and weighing a little more than a hundred pounds, he doesn’t fit the typical NFL prototype.
Isaiah Williams didn’t find himself lining up as a wide receiver until his third year at Illinois. Despite his talent, he went undrafted. Fast forward, barely two months into his sophomore season in the NFL, he faced his third release.
Time and again, Isaiah Williams received messages about how the world perceived his aspirations.
“When you experience being released, when you hear from people that you’re not up to par, not tall enough, not fast enough… I would dwell on their opinions and the limits they assigned to me,” Williams reflected after Monday’s Jets practice. “Throughout my NFL journey, particularly last year, there were piercing moments of doubt.”
The Jets cut Williams on October 4, shortly after they had signed him from the Bengals practice squad. His release followed a game against Miami where he fumbled a kickoff and misjudged a fair catch at the 3-yard line.
By the end of last season, Jets players voted him the team MVP after he returned two punts for touchdowns while averaging 14.1 yards per punt return and 30.2 yards per kick return.
“Players like that demand respect and demand reps,” head coach Aaron Glenn said recently. “What makes him such a special player is that there are so many things he can do on offense. We’ve got to give him the ball and make sure he’s involved because he’s an explosive player.”
Williams, 25, is creating more opportunities for himself with a strong training camp, gaining the inside track for the Jets’ No. 3 receiver spot — ahead of first-round pick Omar Cooper Jr. — after starting the preseason opener against the Buccaneers.
Last week, Jets wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson described Williams as “a heartbeat on offense.”
“If I was in a burning building, boop, boop, boop,” Jefferson said while mimicking dialing a phone. “‘Hey I need you to come to get me,’ he’s on the way. I literally watched this kid at death’s door. And just how he had the mental fortitude to just fight back … When you’re down, you’re not out. Just keep going, keep pushing.”
In addition to his returning duties last season, Williams had 26 catches for 193 yards — and three carries for 34 yards — offering optimism that he could make a greater impact with more playing time this season.
But it doesn’t matter what anyone says.
“As guys see that you’re dependable and they can trust you, more is gonna come,” Williams said. “Whatever my role is, I want to be a master at it. And if you do that, all the glory will come.
“Being around so many teams, I had the opportunity to learn from so many guys. Watching how Garrett [Wilson] operates, being around [Detroit’s Amon-Ra] St. Brown … Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, I’ve always been observant. Everything they did, I was just watching. What makes him great? Being around all these top receivers, a lot of them are special, but a lot of them are just consistent … … After a while you watch and you learn from other guys, and be like, ‘OK, I know exactly how to last in this league.’ ”