Avery
Williams.
Avery
Williams.
Boise St.· 5'8"· 187 lb· 4.43s 40
"A 5'8", 187-pound Boise State nickel and elite return specialist with 5 career punt-return TDs and 2 blocked kicks — a Round-5 special-teams-first pick where the returner tape was the whole grade."Pre-draft read
Williams operates as a returner-first slot defender who wins with short-area quickness and vision as a ball carrier. On punt returns, he confidently secures the catch in traffic and gets vertical swiftly, utilizing a jump-cut and spin to evade initial defenders. As a nickel, he displays quick feet in tight spaces, mirrors receivers on option routes, and demonstrates willing physicality in run support despite his build.
His ball skills as a corner are limited, and he lacks the recovery speed and length for boundary coverage. As an offensive convert, he exhibits contact balance, presses the line of scrimmage patiently before cutting, and catches naturally out of the backfield on angle and wheel routes. He lacks finishing burst in the second level.
Avery Williams is best suited for a primarily Cover-3 match scheme that leverages short-area quickness in the slot and prioritizes special teams performance.
Initially a core special-teamer and elite return specialist, with a ceiling as a matchup slot corner capable of handling quick-twitch inside receivers.
A boundary-heavy man-coverage scheme with limited special teams emphasis would diminish his value significantly.
His exceptional return talent and quick-twitch nickel play offer immediate value, even with the size and length limitations.
Boise State CB/PR Avery Williams
Full Boise State cutup showing nickel coverage reps and the return-game highlights that drove the special-teams-first grade.
Avery Williams Punt/Kick Return Highlights (FR-JR)
Three-year return compilation including the Mountain West-record 5 career punt-return touchdowns.
Avery Williams first-career TD (Atlanta Falcons)
Rookie-year NFL touchdown showing the same spin-cut vision that translated from the Boise return tape.
Williams projects as a return specialist and sub-package slot defender. His primary role is to impact the game with elite return ability and special teams play. His immediate value centers on lead returner and core special teamer contributions, supported by his movement skills, including a 6.86 three-cone drill time, and proven production in these facets. Teams acquire a player with a clear, albeit narrow, path to a roster spot based on these skills.
He was a four-year starter at Boise State, a team captain, and a Jet-Award finalist. His collegiate usage split time between nickel corner and full-time return duties in the Mountain West. He consistently returned punts, scoring 5 career touchdowns, and contributed defensively, but his coverage snaps were primarily against slots. This usage highlighted his special teams strengths while revealing defensive limitations.
Evaluators flagged his sub-5'9" stature and limited length, constraining his defensive projection to nickel-only, lacking boundary viability. Concerns also existed regarding his recovery speed and ball skills. Consensus placed him in the Rounds 5-7 range, targeting him as a special-teams-first player. Atlanta selected him with the 183rd pick, a move that immediately paid off with NFL-leading punt-return production as a rookie.
- 01
Elite return production
Elite return production — He recorded 5 career punt-return touchdowns, establishing him as a game-changing special teams threat.
- 02
Short-area quickness
Short-area quickness — His 6.86 three-cone drill time highlights twitchy footwork, beneficial for returns and nickel coverage.
- 03
Vision and decisiveness
Vision and decisiveness — He commits to return lanes quickly and effectively uses spin and jump-cut combinations to evade initial defenders.
- 04
Special teams versatility
Special teams versatility — Williams blocked two career kicks and projects as a core special teamer beyond just returning punts.
- 05
Willing tackler in slot
Willing tackler in slot — He consistently triggers downhill and tackles above his weight class in run support despite his build.
- 01
Small stature and length
Small stature and length — His sub-5'9" height and limited arm length restrict his defensive role strictly to the slot position.
- 02
Lacks recovery speed
Lacks recovery speed — He was run down in college, raising questions about his ability to defend deep routes at the NFL level.
- 03
Limited ball skills
Limited ball skills — Only 2 career interceptions across four years indicates a lack of natural playmaking ability on the ball.
- 04
Coverage against better receivers
Coverage against better receivers — His size limitations were exposed on option and stick routes against Power Five competition.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.43sp50
- Vertical
- 33.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 121inp50
- Three-cone
- 6.88sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.00sp50
- Bench
- 19repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Temple | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Temple | — | 66 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | Boise State | 14 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| 2018 | Boise State | 13 | 47 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| 2019 | Boise State | 14 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2020 | Boise State | 7 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | — | 48 | 207 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Career-long return specialist and gunner who cycled through five teams as a Pro Bowl ST asset with limited offensive/defensive snaps — the realistic long-tail identity for a Round-5 returner-first pick.
Best-case matchup-nickel-plus-returner outcome where the football IQ and short-area quickness let him settle in as a defensive-package regular and elite ST asset. Aspirational ceiling.
Undersized returner whose coverage projection never fully translates, whose value stays tied to punt returns, and who ends up on the roster bubble whenever the return game gets more valuable elsewhere.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context. Williams was the most decorated return man in the 2021 class, a four-year Boise State starter who left as the Mountain West career leader in punt-return touchdowns (5) with 2 blocked kicks and a Jet-Award finalist finish in 2019. He served as a team captain in 2020 and split time between nickel corner and full-time return duties. He measured 5'8", 187 with a 4.43 forty, 33.5" vertical, 121" broad, 6.88 three-cone and 4.00 shuttle at his Boise State pro day — quick, twitchy testing splits that still produced a modest 3.7 RAS because of the size baseline. The coverage tape was strictly nickel-only: a willing tackler with plus lateral quicks who was overmatched vertically against Power Five receivers. Consensus board pegged him as a Rounds 5-7 core-four special-teamer with a chance to survive as a subpackage nickel.
NFL fit — Atlanta. The team drafted Williams at 183 explicitly as a returner and gunner, and the fit worked immediately. He led the NFL in punt-return yardage in 2021 (35 returns, 322 yards, 9.2 avg) and delivered enough coverage-team snaps to justify the pick as a pure ST asset. In 2022 the Falcons converted him into a change-of-pace running back to squeeze more offense out of the roster spot: 79 carries for 336 yards, 25 receptions, and 4 total touchdowns as a rookie-year RB conversion.
Retrospective. Williams tore his ACL in August 2023 and missed the entire season, then returned in 2024 as a returner and gadget back before Atlanta let him walk in 2025. He signed with the Chiefs practice squad and cycled through the tail end of the Chiefs / Cardinals rosters in 2025. The pick reads as a hit on its stated goal — a top-of-the-league returner and locker-room special-teams captain who converted into a package RB — with a career tier capped by the ACL and the size ceiling that always limited his defensive projection.