Maxx Williams

Maxx Williams (born April 12, 1994) is an American football tight end for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

Maxx Williams
Williams in high school in 2012
No. 87 – Arizona Cardinals
Position:Tight end
Personal information
Born: (1994-04-12) April 12, 1994
Waconia, Minnesota
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:252 lb (114 kg)
Career information
High school:Waconia High School
(Waconia, Minnesota)
College:Minnesota
NFL Draft:2015 / Round: 2 / Pick: 55
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2019
Receptions:78
Receiving yards:699
Receiving touchdowns:4
Player stats at NFL.com

College career

Williams was redshirted in his first year at the University of Minnesota in 2012. As a redshirt freshman in 2013, he started seven of 13 games, recording 25 receptions for 417 yards and five touchdowns.[1] As a sophomore in 2014, he finished the year with 36 receptions for 569 yards and eight touchdowns. Williams was a finalist for the John Mackey Award.[2][3]

Williams entered the 2015 NFL Draft after his redshirt sophomore season, foregoing his junior and senior seasons.[4]

Professional career

The NFL advisory board recommended Williams return to school, but he chose to forgo his junior and senior season and enter the draft. The upcoming draft class lacked depth at the tight end position with Williams as the only tight end projected to go in the first two rounds. During the lead up to the draft, Williams worked out with Minnesota Vikings' tight end Kyle Rudolph. Williams received an invitation to the NFL combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. Williams finished third among tight ends in the 40-yard dash.[5] He had an impressive performance and was able to distinguish himself as the top tight end over Miami's Clive Walford. On March 2, 2015, he opted to participate at Minnesota's pro day, along with David Cobb, Cedric Thompson, and 11 other teammates. He stood on his combine results and chose to only perform positional drills for team representatives and scouts from 20 NFL teams.[6] His pro day performance was described as impressive by multiple scouts and representatives.[7] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Williams was projected to be a second or third round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts.[8] He was ranked the top tight end in the draft by NFL analysts Charles Davis, Mike Mayock, Lance Zierlein, NFLDraftScout.com, and Sports Illustrated.[9][10][11][12]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 3 7⁄8 in
(1.93 m)		 249 lb
(113 kg)		 33 1⁄2 in
(0.85 m)		 10 3⁄8 in
(0.26 m)		 4.78 s 1.77 s 2.88 s 4.37 s 7.30 s 34 1⁄2 in
(0.88 m)		 9 ft 9 in
(2.97 m)		 17 reps
All values from NFL Combine[13]

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens selected Williams in the second round (55th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft.[14] The Baltimore Ravens traded their second round pick (58th overall) and fifth round pick (158th overall) to the Arizona Cardinals in order to move up three spots to select Williams. They initialized the trade after multiple reports suggested that the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to select Williams with their second round pick (56th overall).[15] Afterwards, Pittsburgh Steelers' General Manager Kevin Colbert denied the claim, stating they were planning to select Senquez Golson either way.[16] The Ravens also chose Delaware tight end Nick Boyle in the fifth round (171st overall).

2015

On May 7, 2015, the Baltimore Ravens signed Williams to a four-year, $4.05 million contract that includes $1.82 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.20 million.[17]

Throughout his first training camp with the Ravens, he competed against Crockett Gilmore, Nick Boyle, Dennis Pitta, and Konrad Reuland for the vacant job as the starting tight end after Owen Daniels departed in free agency.[18] He was named the Ravens' second tight end behind Crockett Gilmore to begin the regular season.[19]

He made his professional regular season debut in the Baltimore Ravens' season-opener at the Denver Broncos and made his first career reception on an 11-yard pass by Joe Flacco during their 19–13 loss. The following week, Williams made his first career start and caught one pass for eight-yards in a 37–33 loss at the Oakland Raiders. On November 15, 2015, Williams made four receptions for 40 receiving yards and caught his first career touchdown during a 22–20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. His first career touchdown reception came in the second quarter on a 21-yard pass by Joe Flacco.[20] Williams was inactive in Week 7 and limited in Week 8 after suffering a knee and ankle injury.[21]

On November 30, 2015, Williams suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of a 33–27 victory at the Cleveland Browns. He was unable to play the following week at the Miami Dolphins (Week 13).[22] On January 3, 2016, he caught a season-high six passes for 53-yards in a 24–16 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals. During the game, Bengals' linebacker Vontaze Burfict blindsided Williams while he was running a route in the end zone on the opposite side of where the actual play was happening. Burfict was fined $50,000 and was heavily scrutinized for leading with the crown of his helmet to Williams' chin and neck.[23] He finished the season with 32 receptions 268 receiving yards and a touchdown in seven starts and 14 games.[24]

2016

He competed with Crockett Gilmore, Dennis Pitta, and Nick Boyle throughout training camp for the job as the second tight end. The Ravens had signed Benjamin Watson during free agency to assume the job as the starting tight end.[25] During the Ravens' third preseason game, Watson suffered a torn achilles tendon. Head coach John Harbaugh named Williams the third tight end to begin the regular season, behind Dennis Pitta and Crockett Gilmore.[26]

On October 7, 2016, Williams was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury.[27] The knee injury required surgery to remove cartilage and he was estimated to miss a minimum of eight weeks or possibly the remainder of the season.[28] He finished the 2016 season without any catches and appeared in only four games.

2017

He competed with Benjamin Watson, Dennis Pitta, Crockett Gilmore, Nick Boyle, Ryan Malleck, and Larry Donnell for the role as the starting tight end. He was named the third tight end behind Boyle and Watson to start the season after Dennis Pitta retired due to another hip injury and Crockett Gilmore was placed on injured/reserve with a torn MCL.[29]

He started the Baltimore Ravens' season-opener at the Cincinnati Bengals and made one reception for five-yards during their 20-0 victory. The following week, he caught a season-high four passes for 21-yards as the Ravens defeated the Cleveland Browns 24–10. Williams also had his first career rushing attempt for a two-yard gain during the victory. Unfortunately, Williams also suffered an injury to his left ankle during the course of the game and was unable to play in the next three games (Weeks 3-5).[30] On October 15, 2017, Williams returned from injury and caught a six-yard pass during the Ravens' 27–24 loss to the Chicago Bears. After catching the pass from Joe Flacco, Williams attempting to fight for extra yardage and fumbled the ball. He also aggravated his ankle injury during the play and missed the next two games (Weeks 7-8).[31] During a Week 9 matchup at the Tennessee Titans, Williams caught three passes for a season-high 29-yards in a 23–20 loss.[32]

2018 season

In 2018, Williams appeared in 13 games for the Ravens and caught 16 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown.[33]

Arizona Cardinals

On May 3, 2019, Williams signed with the Arizona Cardinals.[34] He was named a starting tight end to start the season. On November 16, 2019, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Cardinals.[35]

Williams was placed on the active/non-football illness list at the start of training camp on August 2, 2020,[36] and was activated two days later.[37]

NFL statistics

Regular season
YearTeamGPGSRECYDSAVGLNGTDFUMLST
2015BAL 147322688.428110
2016BAL 40000.00000
2017BAL 11815865.717111
2018BAL 136161438.925100
2019ARI 16101520213.528100
Total5831786999.028421
Source: NFL.com

Postseason
YearTeamGPGSRECYDSAVGLNGTDFUMLST
2018BAL 11188.08000
Total11188.08000
Source: pro-football-reference.com

Personal life

His father, Brian Williams, and his grandfather, Robert Williams, played in the NFL.[38][39] Brian Williams was a three-year letterman at center at Minnesota and was selected in the first round (18th overall) by the New York Giants in the 1989 NFL Draft. Robert Williams was a quarterback at Notre Dame and was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 1959 NFL Draft. His mother, Rochelle Williams, played volleyball at Minnesota (1984–87). His uncle, Ron Goetz, also played football at Minnesota and played two seasons in the World League of American Football.[5]

gollark: Well, everyone directly involved really.
gollark: Firstly my laptop can't really *run* it, and secondly I have lost trust in your administration.
gollark: no.
gollark: And I have about the same number of neurons as a really big GPU has transistors, I think, but those aren't that comparable.
gollark: I can manage probably 0.01 FLOPS given a bit of paper to work on, while my phone's GPU can probably do a few tens of GFLOPS, but emulating my brain would likely need EFLOPS of processing power and exabytes of memory.

References
  1. Gophers have another game-changing tight end in Maxx Williams
  2. Gophers football: Maxx Williams finalist for John Mackey Award
  3. Maxx Williams Named Mackey Award Finalist
  4. Maxx Williams declares for draft
  5. Liz Clarke (April 16, 2015). "NFL draft tight end overview: Minnesota's Maxx Williams stands out among thin crop". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  6. Mile Huguenin (March 2, 2015). "Maxx Williams: Pro day proved my combine 'wasn't a fluke". NFL.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  7. Gil Brandt (March 2, 2015). "Minnesota's Maxx Williams has impressive positional workout". NFL.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  8. "*Maxx Williams, DS #1 TE, Minnesota". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  9. Charles Davis (April 1, 2015). "2015 NFL Draft prospect rankings by position". NFL.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  10. Mike Mayock (April 28, 2015). "Mike Mayock's 2015 NFL Draft position rankings 5". NFL.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  11. Chris Burke (April 8, 2015). "2015 NFL draft positional rankings: Tight end". si.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  12. Lance Zierlein (March 19, 2015). "2015 NFL Draft: Lance Zierlein's top 10 tight ends". NFL.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  13. "NFL Draft Profile: Maxx Williams". NFL.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  14. Hanzus, Dan (May 1, 2015). "Baltimore Ravens select tight end Maxx Williams". NFL.com. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  15. Joe Rogers (May 1, 2015). "Ravens draft Maxx Williams in trade up with Cardinals". sportingnews.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  16. Wesseling, Chris (May 6, 2015). "Steelers GM: Maxx Williams 'never a discussion' in second round". NFL.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  17. "Spotrac.com: Maxx Williams contract". spotrac.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  18. "Ourlads.com: Baltimore Ravens' depth chart: 07/01/2015". Ourlads.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  19. Garrett Downing (October 24, 2015). "Who's Playing, Who's Not vs. Cardinals". baltimorravens.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  20. "NFL Game Center: Week 10-2015: Jacksonville Jaguars @ Baltimore Ravens". NFL.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  21. Jess Root (October 25, 2015). "Cardinals vs. Ravens final injury report: John Brown questionable, as is Lardarius Webb". revengeofthebirds.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  22. Joe Meoli (December 3, 2015). "Ravens tight end Maxx Williams remains out of practice with concussion". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  23. Sarah Ellison (January 12, 2016). "Vontaze Burfict Fined $50K For Hit On Maxx Williams". baltimoreravens.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  24. "NFL Player stats: Maxx Williams (2015)". NFL.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  25. "Ourlads.com: Baltimore Ravens' depth chart: 07/01/2016". ourlads.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  26. "Ourlads.com: Baltimore Ravens' depth chart: 10/01/2016". ourlads.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  27. Mink, Ryan (October 7, 2016). "Ravens Send Tight End Maxx Williams to Injured Reserve". BaltimoreRavens.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017.
  28. Clifton Brown. "Maxx Williams' knee injury could open door for Darren Waller's return". nbcsports.com3. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  29. Evan Mazza (September 6, 2017). "Baltimore Ravens release Week 1 depth chart". baltimorebeatdown.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  30. Logan Levy (September 18, 2017). "Report: Brandon Williams' and Maxx Williams' injuries are not "long-term"". BaltimoreBeatdown.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  31. Ryan Mink (October 15, 2017). "Breshad Perriman, Maxx Williams Leave Bears Game Early". baltimoreravens.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  32. "NFL Player stats: Maxx Williams (2017)". NFL.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  33. Bouda, Nate (May 2, 2019). "Cardinals Signing TE Maxx Williams".
  34. Odegard, Kyle (May 3, 2019). "Cardinals Sign Tight End Maxx Williams". AZCardinals.com.
  35. Urban, Darren (November 16, 2019). "Maxx Williams Signs Two-Year Extension With Cardinals". AZCardinals.com.
  36. Root, Jess (August 2, 2020). "OL Marcus Gilbert, TE Maxx Williams designated with non-football illness". USAToday.com. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  37. Urban, Darren (August 4, 2020). "Tackle Marcus Gilbert Opts Out Of Playing 2020 Season". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  38. Gophers tight end Williams follows family tradition
  39. Gophers' Maxx Williams comes from impressive bloodlines
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