LA Chargers: The 3 biggest pleasant surprises after 5 weeks
By Jason Reed
2. Mike Williams
You might be wondering why Mike Williams is not the no. 1 player on this list and the only real reason I have for you is that we wanted to give him his entire own page instead of having him share the opening page with our intro.
Mike Williams hasn't just been the biggest pleasant surprise on the LA Chargers thus far this season, he might be the biggest surprise in the entire NFL. Williams has catapulted his way into being one of the best receivers in the league and anyone who was buying in on a breakout year for Williams looks like a genius right now.
We rarely see this kind of jump from a player like Williams. We have seen big jumps before but it typically happens slowly for a young receiver or happens if someone gets put in a great situation that was better than the year prior.
MUST-READ: Ranking the entire AFC after the Chargers win over the Browns
One example of a player slowly building up to their peak is Michael Thomas; an example of a player benefitting from a change of scenery is Stefon Diggs. Rarely do we see a receiver go from being a top-25 or so receiver in the league to being a top-five receiver based on production.
Williams did kind of get a chance of scenery with a new play-calling in Joe Lombardi and a new quarterback in Justin Herbert but Herbert's arrival actually hurt Williams' production in 2020. The Chargers have really leaned into utilizing the former seventh-overall pick and the results are apparent.
Williams ranks fifth in receiving yards, seventh in receptions and first in touchdowns. We expected Keenan Allen to have these kinds of numbers, not Mike Williams.