By: Jack Armstrong Copy Editor
Western alumnus Tyrell Williams (WR) has been named to the 53-man, regular season roster for the San Diego Chargers in the NFL. He made his official NFL Debut on Sep. 19, 2015 during the Chargers 33-28 win over the Detroit Lions.
Williams’ route to the NFL was far from traditional. Williams had a stand out senior year playing for WOU. After starting 10 games, he racked up a total of 56 catches, 950 yards, and 8 touchdowns.
With a successful senior season under his belt, Williams attended the Oregon State Pro Day on March 13, 2015. As an undrafted free agent, Oregon’s annual pro day was a chance for Williams to work-out in front of the same scouts that evaluate players at the NFL’s Draft Combine.
Undrafted free agents are a unique prospect for many NFL teams looking to make a swoop for quality players who were not invited to participate in the traditional Draft.
Williams actually posted times on his 40-yard dash, vertical jump, and broad leap that would have put him amongst the top 15 wide receivers in the official NFL combine. His three-cone drill time would have seen him be the best in the combine, completing the drill almost a tenth of a second faster the quickest combine player.
Williams’ ability to perform was not in question around Western’s campus, but being an undrafted free agent does come with some additional difficulty breaking into the professional league.
Often talented colligate players are left out of the NFL combine for a variety of reasons. Some reasons are as simple as a coming from a division two school like Williams coming from Western; some reasons are as complicated as on-going criminal investigations like Louisiana State’s La’El Collins (OT).
Regardless of why he was left undrafted, Williams proved himself during pro day and hasn’t looked back. After being signed to the Chargers pre-season squad, he put together a string of impressive performances including 10 receptions in 4 games for a total of 137 yards. One of those receptions led to a 63 yard touchdown.
After the brief possibility of being waived in-favor of a more senior player, it was announced that Williams would be named in the 53-man squad for the Chargers 2015-2016 regular season.
He is currently listed as a practice squad player, however, given the recent injury woes experienced by San Diego – especially fellow wide receiver Jacoby Jones (ankle) – Williams could get a full NFL game-day debut soon.
