Tyrell Williams said after last season that he considers himself a “No. 1 receiver.” Yet, he chose to sign with the Raiders only days after they traded for Antonio Brown, the clear No. 1 receiver in their offense.
Williams hopes Brown’s presence helps him.
“It’s vertical,” Williams said, via Scott Bair of NBCSportsBayArea.com. “We like to go down the field, and I feel like that’s one of my strong points, taking it and stretching the field. I think that will be big for me being able to get a lot of [focus] go to ‘AB,’ so I feel like I’ll get a lot of one-on-one coverage down the field. It’ll be big for me.”
Williams has showed off his speed -- he ran a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash in 2015 -- in the team’s offseason program as he and quarterback Derek Carr have developed a deep connection.
“Yeah,” Williams said. “Everybody thinks I can’t run.”
Williams made 41 catches for 653 yards and five total touchdowns in 2018, giving him 155 receptions for 2,530 yards and 17 total touchdowns in his four seasons with the Chargers.
The Raiders expect Williams to be even more productive than he was with the Chargers because of Brown’s presence.
“He can run these routes and set people up,” Carr said of Williams. “He’s a technician also. He’s just not a big, raw body.”