Today’s NFL is filled with offensive receiving weapons. The majority of receivers fill a traditional role in an offense, but there are specific offenses across the league that love to deploy “position-less” football players across the formation.
Players like Percy Harvin, Tavon Austin, Cordarrelle Patterson, etc., have all been able to make varying levels of impact in the league based on their ability to make things happen with the ball in their hands. Pooka Williams absolutely is the next player in line in this mold.
He’s not going to fit a specific mold for an offense, unfortunately. At his size, he’s too slight to be a traditional RB, and he doesn’t have the experience to win one-on-one reps consistently as a WR. However, he’s extremely dangerous with the ball in his hands, and he’s a big play waiting to happen.
Is Pooka someone worth looking at for fantasy football, though? Or is he going to be relegated to purely a gadget role in the NFL that won’t see enough work to be viable for fantasy football?
These questions are answered here in our scouting profile on Pooka Williams:
Check out the rest of our 2021 NFL Draft prospect profiles
Pooka Williams (RB – Kansas)
Vital Statistics
Height: 5-foot-9
Weight: 175 lbs.
Arms: 30 3/4
40-Yard Dash: 4.38
Vertical Jump: 31.5
Broad Jump: 118
Bench: 4 Reps
3-Cone Drill: 7.02
College Statistics
Check out Pooka Williams’s detailed college stats here
Skills Legend
| 80+ | Generational Talent |
| 79 | Top-10 Skill |
| 78 | First-Round Skill |
| 77 | Second-Round Skill |
| 76 | Third-Round Skill |
| 75 | Fourth-Round Skill |
| 74 | Fifth-Round Skill |
| 73 | Sixth-Round Skill |
| 72 | Seventh-Round Skill |
| 71- | UDFA |
Skills Chart
Skills Breakdown (out of 100)
Vision (70): Pooka Williams is an exciting and electric prospect that should be classified as more of an “offensive weapon” than an RB. He was given plenty of work between the tackles at Kansas but was highly inefficient with his opportunity in their gap/power scheme. Williams could be more effective in a wide-zone scheme, but the vision and ability to navigate traffic will force him to be more of an outside-the-tackles runner than anything else. His size also plays a large role in this as well.
Burst (77): Fantastic short-area burst and possesses the ability to go 0-60 quickly when he finds an open running lane.
Change of Direction (77): Excellent change of direction and ability to stop on a dime. This is needed at his size, and for the role he’ll play in the NFL.
Power (72): Willing to lower his shoulder and embrace contact at the second level, but at 180 pounds, he’s not going to move any defender backward.
Speed (78): Fantastic top-end speed and has enough to threaten defenses deep. He can move out from RB alignment and stretch the field as a receiving option with his athleticism.
Contact Balance (76.5): Good contact balance and ability to keep his feet under him well. He won’t break away from too many NFL tackles, but he did show the ability to keep his legs churning and slip through arm tackles in college.
Pass Catching (77): Excellent pass-catcher, and he has the potential to soak up targets in the NFL at every level of the field. Can run everything from wheel routes to option routes out of the backfield. Also has the ability to adjust to the ball while it’s in the air and make the difficult catch.
Pass Protection (68): Willing to stand in the way, but he’s not going to be someone that NFL coaches trust to stand in on 3rd down and keep the QB clean.
Video Evaluation
They Said It
Projected Draft Range
Pooka doesn’t exactly have a clear role in the NFL, so trying to nail down his projected draft range is a near-impossible exercise. If he does get drafted, it will most likely be with a mid to late Day 3 pick.
Ideal Fantasy Landing Spot
Williams isn’t going to cost much from a draft capital perspective, and he has the potential to flourish if he lands with an innovative offense mind. Landing with Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs would give Patrick Mahomes another weapon and give Williams the chance to be borderline fantasy football relevant.
Fantasy Comparison
Donnell Pumphrey was a nearly identical height & weight to Williams coming out of San Diego State in 2017. There aren’t many players that have weighed in at the Combine around Williams’ size, but Pumphrey’s an easy comparison to make.
Check out our complete list of 2021 NFL Draft profiles here
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Kyle Yates is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @KyleYNFL.