Maxx Williams looks like an ideal fit for us at 31.
He's a competent blocker. Good in space. Decent effort, although lays up at times when the play is extended. That's not atypical. Certainly doesn't give up on plays. Overall, the Minnesota offense is incredibly similar to how Seattle runs theirs in terms of run/pass philosophy.
He's not Zach Miller as a blocker. Really, Miller is often undervalued in that area. But Williams is superior to Willson in that regard. Willson isn't exactly bad at blocking either. But Williams is kind of in between Willson and Miller. He doesn't tiptoe up to his assignment. He gets a good head of steam and really works to deliver a shot. Don't expect pancake blocks from him. But definitely he can force and sustain a stalemate. Also consistently able to ride opponents out of an area if they attempt to disengage and flow to the ball.
I love Maxx Williams for a couple reasons. One, he is a very consistent pass catching threat despite the fact his number is infrequently called. That's important for Seattle. He shows incredibly good hands and ability to just get open at the last moment before the ball arrives. In watching tape, he gets open with regularity -- even if he doesn't get the ball. His body control is really incredible and is even good were he simply a wide receiver. Numerous instances where you see him make circus catches of the one handed variety.
He is versatile enough to line up in line or out wide in space. Which to me makes him much more valuable for Seattle. We employ a lot of 11 personnel groupings -- putting out 3 WRs in the formation. Williams could create a shift to more 12 personnel groupings. Obviously we aren't very deep at WR, having to rely on Chris Matthews and Ricardo Lockette significantly in the Super Bowl.
Moving to a predominantly 12 personnel grouping gives us the kind of flexibility that New England enjoyed in 2011/12 when they could run out Gronk/Hernandez. Williams and Miller are both good blockers and it's a formation that can easily be a heavy run set. But the receiving aspect isn't necessarily sacrificed at the same time. If you wanted to go with a more athletic heavy set, you still have the Willson/Williams or Willson/Miller option available. Willson is a matchup win against most LBs in the passing game. I would expect Williams to be similar in that regard.
Ultimately, you could negate the "OMG we can't run from this package" issue, when your base personnel is equally adept at run or pass. New England showed emphatically that kind of versatility can work exceptionally well. It also wouldn't require we hope beyond hope that we can upgrade our WR corps sufficiently enough that the 11 package can work.
The other advantage is of course, that you can regularly cover up Britt on the edge with a TE. Making his job significantly easier. He should improve with experience. But any time you can ease the pain of that learning curve that he is undeniably still on is worth considering.
Ultimately, I see Williams as a much better addition to the team, than any of the WRs likely to still be on the board when we pick. We need a big WR, as we have for a long time. And we kind of saw a glimpse of what a quality big WR can look like and do for our team with Matthews. I'm not in the least sold on his ability to continue that quality once he's accounted for by DCs of this league.
