New England Patriots select Kyle Williams in 3rd round of 2025 NFL Draft

The New England Patriots selected Washington State wide receiver Kyle Williams in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Williams is now a member of the NFL after spending the last two seasons at Washington State.

Kyle Williams began his college football career in 2020 at UNLV. He was named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year after leading the team with 35 receptions, 426 yards and two touchdowns in six games. In 2021, Williams started 10 games and caught 42 passes for 601 yards and two touchdowns.

The following year, Williams led Washington State with five touchdown receptions and caught 40 passes for 541 yards. In 2023, Williams transferred to Washington State and caught 61 passes for 843 yards and six touchdowns. Last year, the 22-year-old emerged as one of the top wide receivers in the country, tallying 70 receptions for 1,1988 yards and 14 TDs.

Williams announced he was entering the NFL Draft in January. “It’s been a long journey. With long journeys come with many ups and downs,” Williams wrote in an Instagram post at the time. That is something I wouldn’t change for the world. College football you will be missed dearly.”

Kyle Williams played high school football at St. Monica Catholic in Santa Monica, California. He ranked as the No. 2,152 and the No. 109 athlete in the Class of 2020, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Kyle Williams

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com gave an analysis of Williams for his draft profile. He projected him to be selected in the second round a compared him to Denver Broncos wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr.

“Fifth-year senior with alignment versatility and home run potential. Williams will never be tabbed as ‘sure-handed’ but he can separate deep and create big plays, which could make the catch issues easier to swallow,” Zierlein wrote.

“He eliminates pursuit angles as a catch-and-run artist and gets respectful cushions, allowing for easy comeback throws. His lack of route-running fundamentals limit his tree, but that should be correctable with work. Williams’ subpar hands lower his floor, but teams looking to add a playmaker could have him queued up as a future WR3.”