Mike Williams with Zero Targets?

I may be totally wrong but i'm a...

 

The thing you need to understand about Tomlin is that he puts extreme value on players working their way up the charts. Rarely will you see a player just come in and step over those that have been here, working & practicing... "your practice will determine your participation"....

 

Williams has played a boat load of snaps against the clowns and the crows. It was the TD from Wilson that sealed the Commanders game. So why no targets in the 2 divisional games? He's ready. He was signed to be ready as a seasoned vet. Another Tomlin blunder.

 

This isn't some offseason acquisition. This is a guy they traded for to upgrade a weak group. It was a huge mistake by Khan and Tomlin if they did that and don't use him a hell of a lot more.

 

I get that. But this offense needs more than a bunch of jump balls to Pickens or Williams. Against better defenses I can't see it as a winning formula. Sure, they'll get the yards between the 20s, but you can't throw moon balls in the compressed RZ. And we are seeing the effects of that. This offense needs to work on short area passing/receiving. They also desperately need to work on scramble drills. Guys just seem to freeze when Wilson exits the pocket.

 

Williams and his counterpart #18 in Baltimore have a lot in common. They are both equally irrelevant

 

Why even trade for him ... if you're not going to use him? He can be a real asset.

 

He has been getting snaps but just not getting any targets, I'm not sure he has been getting open though.

 

They need to get him involved. It would make it much easier on our journey to a playoff run.

 

I completely agree. Ten guys had at least 10 receiving yards, Wilson had 414 yards passing.....ZERO to Mike Williams?? Why?? Why trade for him?

 

Are Steelers insiders saying anything on this? Is he washed? Doesn’t know the playbook? TOMLIN or Russ don’t trust him? I mean 4 games with 1 catch???

 

Let me understand some of the arguments here, and the timing of the arguments.

Wilson throws for over 400 yards and completes passes to 10 players. The Steelers are in the top 10 in offense. Who saw that coming at the beginning of the seasons? Practically no one.

And now is when you choose to complain about how much we use Mike Williams? Timing in life is important and some of you have the worst timing imaginable. Can you at least wait until we have a game that the players in front of Williams drop a bunch of passes or otherwise make mistakes before clamoring for him?

So let’s answer the questions asked on this topic, and I will speculate just as most of you have who are complaining.
Q: Why isn’t williams playing more?
A: Because the players in front of him are better AND are doing their jobs very well. Well enough that Williams doesn’t deserve to play in front of any of them right now

Q: Why trade for him if we aren’t playing him/throwing to him?
A: insurance. In a 17 game season we should expect injuries at every position. And for teams in the playoffs with an 18-20 game schedule, backups become even more important. I would submit that the Steelers traded for Williams in case someone gets hurt. IF he beats out someone, great. But he isn’t right now. But that does not mean the Steelers will not eventually need him. Buying insurance is smart even if you don’t need to use it. Especially when the price is relatively cheap.

 

I brought this up before.
If Pickens get more catches its.....why isn't Austin getting more catches.....If Austin gets more catches its.....why isn't Washington getting more catches.....if Washington gets more catches its.... why isn't Muth getting more catches.....if Najee gets more touches its.....why isn't Warren getting more, and so on, and so on......there is one ball, but someone on here will not be happy whomever gets it.

 

It is almost as though people have to find a reason to complain, not because it makes an actual difference, but because they haven’t meant their daily complaint quota. One poster even used this issue to take a shot at Tomlin even though he is coaching a team that is first in their division when every single prediction had them 3rd at best in the preseason.

 

This x 1,000. I miss the days when Ben would scramble out of the pocket and Miller, AB, Santonio Holmes, Ward, etc.... would keep running around, and many times get open and make a catch.

 

Perhaps, but it is fair to point out that Williams has done so little.

 

This thread started before that one game. It's not as if people suddenly just started complaining about Williams not producing. It has been going on for for three games now.

 

Yes but people complained even after the Cinci game. Read the posts. One poster actually wrote that the Steelers threw for over 400 yards, 10 receivers caught passes and that Mike Williams did not catch a single pass. That was the actual complaint. I am not making that up, though to the average reader the complaint reads more like a compliment of the Steelers offense.

My larger point is that it seems odd in general to complain when a team is far exceeding the expectations that any rational person had coming into the season. No one picked the Steelers to be in first place after 13 weeks. Very, very few thought that either Fields or Wilson was any type of actual answer at QB. And I guarantee that no one on this site expected the Steelers to be 9-3. And yet they still complain. Any complaint right now about how this team is playing is perplexing.

 

That Wilson spread the ball around that much and Williams wasn't even targeted is a fair reason to criticize Williams. It is possible to praise a wonderful performance by Wilson and the rest of the offense while also noticing that Williams has been worthless outside of one play since he was acquired. That may be an even bigger concern this week with Austin in the concussion protocol.

Regarding the way the team is playing, they have a one-game winning streak. The game before that was an ugly loss to a very bad team. Narrowly holding on against the Bengals was great, especially the way most of the offense played, but it doesn't wipe away all concerns regarding the team.

Think of it how a coach might. Don't you want Tomlin working on the team's flaws this week? Often, after a victory is the best time to focus on the areas where the team needs to improve. The players are feeling good, so they can weather a little constructive criticism better than they would after a loss. There was a lot to like about the season overall and the most recent game. It is certainly worth celebrating those positives, but this idea that we should ignore the negatives when they win makes no sense to me.

 

It is really strange that we actually gave up a draft pick for this guy in a mid-season trade and have targeted him one time in a month. That's not a very good exchange on our draft pick.

I'm betting that Calvin Austin is going to be out this week because of the concussion protocol. If so, that's may force them to put Williams in the mix more.

For whatever behind the scenes reason, they have not been utilizing Mike Williams. In my opinion, we gave up far too much to allow him to just play decoy or sit on a bench.

Think of it this way. If a month ago someone had offered to give the Steelers a single touchdown in exchange for next year's fifth round draft pick. Would anybody take that deal? Because right now, that's the deal we have

 

Russell Wilson......lol

 

I Totally agree,,but I don't see if 10 Different people catch a ball, and I believe 6 over 20 yards.....that pointing out the guy who has been on the team the least of time , didn't...is constructive criticism. JMO, but it just sounds like criticism.....period. Again JMO

 

You have some valid points except for all the other WRs are playing too well for MW to get a look. Have you seen Van Jefferson’s stats for a number 2 WR who has played every game??? If we are going to make a serious run in the playoffs our WR corps outside GP and an occasional CA3 catch need to improve considerably.

 

I predict a breakout game for him on sunday,like 3 catch 70 yards

 

I said this in another thread, but He had his 1st real chance at another td when Muth got His,,but the DB cheated towards him, and gave Muth even more space, and Wilson took the easy TD.....correctly.