Former ECU standout tight end Bryce Williams may not have been selected in the NFL Draft earlier this month, but as Pirate fans and coaches know very well, that wasn’t the end of the line for him.
Ready to start my journey with the New England Patriots!
— Bryce Williams (@b_wwilliams) May 2, 2016
The 6-foot-6 Lexington (NC) native was picked up by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent, and given how well the team has utilized the position as a focal point of the offense – not to mention its tradition of success – Williams could not have chosen a better landing spot to start his pro career.
Going undrafted was far from Williams’ first brush with adversity. In fact, you might say that he had plenty of experience in that situation.
Williams began his college career as a walk-on at Marshall back in 2011, being redshirted before transferring to ECU and again walking on to the Pirate football team in 2012. Despite earning a roster spot, he saw no game action.
Despite the innocuous beginning to his college career, Williams soon showed flashes of the game breaker he would eventually become. He broke out with an impressive sophomore season in 2013, earning All-Conference USA Honorable Mention after catching 20 passes for 220 yards (11 YPC) and five touchdowns.
With ECU’s move to the American Athletic Conference in 2014, Williams was now a key cog in one of the AAC’s (and nation’s) best offenses. The Pirates had the No. 3-ranked passing attack in the nation and finished 22nd in the country in scoring. Williams played a vital role in all of that as one of QB Shane Carden’s favorite targets, especially in the red zone. He averaged 13.2 yards per catch on the year, hauling in 18 passes for 237 yards and four TDs. He earned All-AAC 2nd Team at tight end in 13 games.
For as good as his first two seasons were, Williams totally surpassed expectations during his senior season. All he did to improve on his junior year was to break the ECU single season record for receptions, pulling in 58 passes for 588 yards and four more scores. His performance earned him a first team All-AAC pick at tight end.
Looking a little closer, other numbers show just how valuable he was to the Pirate offense in 2015. He had 20 third down targets, making 16 catches for 11 first downs in those situations and was at his best against top competition. He caught nine passes for 83 yards and a TD in The Swamp against Florida and had a career-high 87 receiving yards against BYU.
Measurables
Obviously, Williams’ biggest asset is his size. At a sturdy 6-foot-6 and 258 pounds, Williams possesses an appealing combination of size and speed that makes him an inviting target in the passing game. He has shown the ability to make catches in traffic, but still has room to grow in terms of route running and blocking.
As a part of a stacked Patriot roster, Williams will have an opportunity to learn under some of the game’s premier talents at his position. At the same time, though, he’ll have to show some progress quickly if he wants to keep a roster spot.
New England
When you stop and think about it, there was really no better place for Bryce Williams to end up than with the New England Patriots. They currently have the game’s best tight end in Rob Gronkowski, the game’s best head coach in Bill Belichick arguably one of the game’s best quarterbacks of all time in Tom Brady.
Having that firepower is one thing, but there’s another reason the Patriots were the perfect landing spot for a case like Williams.
More than any other team, the Patriots have shown the ability to develop projects and construct their offense around monsters at the tight end position. Gronkowski has spent his short career completely rewriting the NFL record book for tight ends, and reloaded the other tight spot with Martellus Bennett. Williams will have his work cut out for him if he wants to stay on the roster, but if anybody can figure out what to do with Williams, it’s New England.
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