Troy Williamson

Williamson will battle for a roster spot with the Jags heading into 2009.

The buzz in OTAs is that Williamson has been impressive, catching everything thrown near him. Williamson certainly has the speed to be a difference maker, but his poor hands got him shipped out of Minnesota for a late-round pick. If Williamson can get over his hands issues, he could be a late-round or waiver wire steal.

Williamson has been a bust so far in his NFL career and was benched much of the second half of last season after several key drops (3rd in the NFL in dropped passes). Despite last year's woes, Williamson may still enter 2007 with a starting job as the Vikings remain thin at receiver and could provide value since he still has the size (6-1, 200) and speed to succeed at the position.

Williamson didn’t make a major impact during his rookie season, but not many wide receivers do, and given the disarray of the team’s passing game for much of the year, we’re not going to make too much of that. Williamson brings good size (6-1, 200), decent hands and tremendous speed to the table, and in his second year, he should have a chance to compete for a more prominent role. Koren Robinson, Marcus Robinson and Travis Taylor are also in the mix, but none of the three are established enough that Williamson couldn’t beat them out with a strong camp. Williamson missed the team’s May minicamp after surgery to remove an abscess from his left hip, but is expected to be ready by the start of training camp.

While asking him to fill the formidable shoes of Randy Moss isn’t realistic in his rookie season, Williamson has big-time speed and at 6-1, 203 pounds, can go over top of most defensive backs. Williamson still needs to work on his route running, and he isn’t overly quick, but he has good hands and should provide Daunte Culpepper with dangerous vertical threat. Williamson likely will battle Marcus Robinson for the starting job opposite Nate Burleson in camp, but he could end up as the Vikings’ No. 3 receiver.