Acme Packing Company
One of the interesting quirks of the Green Bay Packers’ offense right now is the team’s usage of third-round rookie receiver Savion Williams. If you look at how the Packers’ depth chart stacks up right now, you can make the case that he’s behind Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Dontayvion Wicks, Malik Heath and even cornerback Bo Melton in the pecking order. But that doesn’t stop head coach Matt LaFleur from giving Williams the ball.
On the 78 snaps that he’s been on the field for this season, Williams has received 17 touches, including catching all nine of his targets through the air. That should be your first hint that the team is manufacturing touches for the receiver.
But 17 of 78 doesn’t seem like a lot, right? That’s just 22 percent.
What you need to remember here is that about half of the NFL’s touches go to running back carries, which means that just because receivers are one-fifth of the offensive skill players on the field on a given play, the average receiver isn’t getting the ball one-fifth of the snaps that they’re on the field.
So what’s the NFL average? Among players who have played at least as many snaps as Williams this year, it’s around 11 percent.
Wow, Williams is double. So how does that stack up to the rest of the Packers’ players?
Well, I’m glad you asked.
The table above shows the Packers’ receivers this year and their touches per snap. Four of the six receivers average between a 9 percent and 12 percent touch rate, while Heath is not given many chances at just 3 percent. Then, there is Williams, who is getting force-fed the ball when he’s on the field at nearly twice the rate of any other Green Bay receiver, per snap, this year.
Now here’s the fun part…how many receivers in the league do you think have a higher touch rate than Williams in 2025?
What if I said it was just two players, among players who have as many snaps as Williams this year?
What if I said those two players were Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua, who currently rank top-three in the NFL in receiving yards?
The table above shows the top receivers in the league in terms of touch percentage. For the most part, anyone close to the ballpark of Williams’ touches per snap, roughly one touch for every five plays that he’s on the field, is a bona fide number one receiver.
The one exception here is the Carolina Panthers’ Jimmy Horn, another gadget player who seems to draw in the football despite his low season-long snap count.
So if you see #83 on the field for the Packers, look for him to get a touch. Green Bay gives him the football like he’s one of the premier receivers in the league, when he’s actually out there.
As far as efficiency goes, though, it hasn’t really panned out for LaFleur’s team. In the air,...
