Chargers met virtually with Boise State DB/KR/PR Avery Williams

The Chargers have been infamous for trotting out one of the worst special teams units in the entire NFL for the better part of the past decade. In 2020, it got to the point where it just wasn’t truly a Chargers football game if there wasn’t a punt blocked or a blown assignment that ended up costing them points which, in turn, caused them to lose the game in the end.

However, there is real, measurable hope on the horizon with new head Brandon Staley and the team’s newest special teams coordinator, Derius Swinton II.

Well ahead of this year’s NFL draft, the scouting department is looking to better the third phase of the game by finding some impact players in this year’s class. One of those players, whom the team met with recently via Zoom, is former Boise State corner and return man, Avery Williams.

The 5’9, 195-pound Williams is seen as one of the most-dynamic special teams players in the country. In his career, he has nine return touchdowns and a plethora of other splash plays made while covering kicks. In 2019, Williams was named the Mountain West Conference’s Special Teams Player of the Year while earning an honorable mention nod as a cornerback.

In seven games this past season, Williams scored an incredible five special teams touchdowns: two on kick returns, two on punt returns, and returned a blocked punt. That performance earned him his second Special Teams Player of the Year in the conference, solidifying him as one of the premiere players in the third phase of the game among this year’s draft class.

While the Chargers did just use a fifth-round pick last year on Joe Reed to be the team’s answer at kick return, don’t be surprised to see Brandon Staley get his guy for special teams now that he’s at the helm of this team.