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I don’t do stats at OTA practice.
That is foolish.
Spring and summer practices are for teaching, learning, and developing chemistry, not stats, especially since it’s not tackle football.
So when I say a guy had a lot of catches at a practice, I couldn’t give you a number, but offer anecdotal evidence.
And watching the open part of Wednesday’s OTA practice, it seemed like the most prolific receiver was #18.
Who is that?
It’s the Jets team MVP from last year.
Isaiah Williams.
Signed off the Cincinnati practice squad early last season, he did some good work as a returner, including a 74-yard punt-return touchdown in the win over Cleveland, a 78-yard PR score against the Dolphins, and an 83-yard kickoff return against Atlanta.
But while he was doing good work as a returner, he quietly contributed to the team’s passing offense, especially later in the season, finishing with 26 catches.
The former University of Illinois quarterback has turned into a terrific slot receiver, who is also good on bubble screens and jet sweeps.
I was on a radio show in Buffalo on Thursday, and one of the hosts asked me if he should pick Omar Cooper in his fantasy draft.
Many assumed that Cooper would plug right into the team’s slot receiver spot with Garrett Wilson and perhaps Adonai Mitchell on the outside, but I’m not so sure about that, watching Williams in the spring (and late last season).
Williams is playing too well to keep on the sidelines.
Quick as a tick, he gets open very fast, often cutting away from the defensive back with his nifty feet, one of the reasons he is so good as a returner. He has elite cut quickness to open clean windows for quarterbacks quickly, a skill set that passers love.
Don’t get the wrong idea, Cooper is going to play a ton, but maybe more on the outside. Perhaps he beats out Mitchell as the partner for Wilson on the outside. All I said to the host of the radio show was that it’s possible that Cooper isn’t a lock to play slot full-time due to Williams’ presence.
It would be foolish not to use Williams a lot. He’s a playmaker who consistently makes things happen, in whatever role he’s given.
Obviously, we know what he can do as a returner, but as a receiver, he’s one of those guys who can turn routine catches into explosive gains.
You gotta love this guy on bubble screens, getting him quick touches to take advantage of his ability to slip tackles and add yards after catch.
Before the draft, in several issues, we wrote in JC that the Jets’ need at receiver wasn’t as great as some would lead you to believe. We obviously brought up Wilson and Mitchell a lot, but always mentioned Williams in the conversation.
And at Wednesday practice, which was heavy on special teams, but did have some offense vs. defense work, every time you turned around, #18 was catching the ball.
Jets’ new OC Frank Reich, a master chess player as offensive play-caller, is going to love Williams (which already seems to be the case based on the wideout’s involvement in the spring), as a guy he can move around and use in a lot of different ways.
When talking about the Jets loaded receiver, don’t forget to include Williams heavily in the conversation.
June 12, 2026
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