Film Study: Laquon Treadwell and Mike Williams

I will admit I haven’t watched as much film or study the devy picks as much as I should be. I’m finally making it up for as I will break down two players in this article and tell you who I like more after watching just two games of game film. I decided to compare to wide receivers who are the number one and two players on DLF 2016 WR Rankings.

[am4show have=’g1;’ guest_error=’sub_message’ user_error=’sub_message’ ]

Laquon Treadwell, WR Ole Miss

A lot of experts (even the guys here at DLF) have Laquon Treadwell ranked high among receivers and other positional players.  Three of the four rankings have him number one overall at DLF on Devy Rankings.  What I’m going to do is break down two games of his and what he has to offer.

I watched both of these videos at draftbreakdown.com of his 2015 season. They don’t always show all the plays in a game so, I can be limited on what I can scout during this report.

First, let’s get the measurements out of the way.

Age: 20 Years Old
Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 215
40 yards Dash: 4.54

Stats and Notes against Vanderbilt

Catches: 6
Thrown to: 7
Pass Interference Calls: 2

This is the first time I have watched Treadwell in all honesty. I haven’t watched any game film from 2014 yet, as I’m focusing on what he is able to do in 2015. What I say could be different than most but it’s what I took away from the game. His routes were very limited when being targeted, he caught four balls on short curl routes and majority of those routes he had a lot of cushion.  The other two receptions included a fade where he beat a man on and a play where no one covered him. I love his hands he catches away from his body and set up his body up well to take a hit and still secure the ball. What I didn’t see what breakaway speed. He was left wide open and several players were able to catch up to him and pursuit him with angles. They also ran a screen play and he was to block the corner in front of him, he whiffed the block and the play resulted in loss of yards. He gives up on blocks too easily and had two miss blocks in the game.

Stats and Notes against Florida

Catches: 5
Thrown to: 8
Drops: 1

When I watched clips from this game I was blown away by his blocking skills. They were much improved compared to Vanderbilt game. He also showed he has long straight speed so he can run fades and get some separation. I did not see very much separation on crossing routes. In fact, he almost look to give up on plays when quarterback wasn’t looking his way. One play in particular, he ran a curl and sat behind the defender. He needs to improve his awareness to move and make plays for his quarterbacks. His first step is a little slow in this game, it’s a bit surprising because they also played off of him majority of the time.

Overall Thoughts

Watching Treadwell play makes it hard to dictate his talent level. I think he under performed in both videos I watched because of the play calling. With a good wide receiver, you need to move him around and use him in different formations. The majority of his routes were stops and curls – there was not many crossing, post, or even quick slants. In the Florida game, it was third and goal from the two yard line, Treadwell was single covered and he didn’t even get looked at. It’s hard to judge a player when they don’t capitalize him on his skill set.  There is a lot of raw talent where he could not separate on plays and basically gave up on plays if he wasn’t being looked at. If he wasn’t passed to, he wouldn’t find a body to hit and just sat and watched the play. It looked like they would throw the ball to him on a quick curl and hoped and he could make defenders miss. That’s fine to do every now and again but he was never really tested with a corner pressing him at the line. With a short sample of clips and plays I was able to make my own assessment on Laquon Treadwell and I wasn’t very impressed. I would not have him ranked as the best wide receiver in devy leagues.

Mike Williams

Both receivers are credited to both be fantasy assets in dynasty leagues. Williams comes in as the number two wide receiver on DLF 2016 WR Rankings. He is ranked as high as second and low as fifth, which rounds out to 3.50.

Of course, Williams suffered a neck injury early in the 2015 season and we still do not know much about the severity of the injury. I will evaluate Williams based on what we’ve seen on film. I will use draftbreakdown.com to watch film and show what I like or dislike from Williams. They have footage from 2014 season; so unfortunately, I have nothing from this season.

Here are the measurements:

Age: 21 Years Old
Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 6’3
Weight: 205
40 yards Dash: 4.54

Stats and Notes against North Carolina State

Catches: 6
Thrown to: 8
Drops: 0

I know Clemson is good this year as they are ranked and projected to be a top four team in the College Football Playoff. I can say, however, I was very impressed with Mike Williams. He showed up with six catches for 155 yards. In this game against North Carolina State, he was double covered and made a very impressive diving touchdown. He runs a lot of bubble screens, crossing patterns and slants. You can tell he is fast because there was always separation between him and the corners. His blocking wasn’t half bad he would lock on and at least make an attempt. His footwork is fast and pretty solid and look forward to watch another tape to see if he can match this type of play again.

Stats and Notes against Oklahoma

Catches: 8
Thrown to: 11
Drops: 0

I chose to watch the Oklahoma game because this was the final game of the season for the Clemson Tigers as they played in the Russel Athletic Bowl. In this game, his route pattern was slightly different as he didn’t really run as many crossing patterns. Clemson stuck with throwing outs to Williams since he is fast and made separation. After the catch, he was able to try to make a play against the defender. The corners seemed to play off and had fear of getting burnt deep in the game.  There was a play early in the game where it was a one-on-one fade and it became a jump ball in the end zone. The good news is Williams jumped at the highest points to try and catch the ball. The corner did a great job boxing out Williams and getting his body in place to try and catch it. Williams needs to be a little more aggressive to try and use his body to get in better position to catch the ball. The bubble screens were used often in this game and he showed that if he finds a seam or some type of blocking he is gone.

Overall Thoughts

He is very fast and Clemson does a great job of using him in other players besides running him straight down the field. He reminds me of Jordan Matthews from the Philadelphia Eagles. Williams will most likely be used in the slot in the NFL since he has great footwork and route-running skills. He is fast and makes separation between him and the defenders. In short, he is a big play caliber player. In both games there were pass interference calls against the  defenders. He does a great job blocking and even blocks when other players catch the ball. He was pretty impressive and think he is worth the high ranking especially in fantasy leagues.

Williams or Treadwell

I respect everyone I work with and rightfully so, these are some of the best in the business. However, I like Williams over Treadwell and it’s really not even close. I like Williams style of play and think he will fit on almost any NFL team. Treadwell is a guy you need to force feed and doesn’t have the capability to make guys miss, he is a simple two-trick pony. Williams has the opportunity to catch eight to ten balls a game rack up 100 yards and break any of those plays for a touchdown.

[/am4show]