Isaiah Williams

Junior wide receiver for Illinois. 2023: 82 catches, 1,055 receiving yards, 5 TD.

WR · Illinois · Jr. · #1

5′10″ · 185 lb · Saint Louis, MO · Fort Bend Marshall

CFB Index 81 · #37 of 497 WRsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamIllinois 2023 alumnus

via fightingillini.com ↗

Recruiting

4★

ATH recruit

No. 116 nationally · Signed with Illinois

Statement game9 rec · 200 yds · 2 TDvs Indiana (FBS) · W 48-45

Top 1% receiving yards game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

3 wide receiver for Illinois. 2023: 82 catches, 1,055 receiving yards, 5 TD.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Illinois in 2019.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Illinois, 2,298 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2023) — his college career is complete.

His career

He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.

20194 games

Signed with Illinois4-star out of Trinity Catholic

202312 games

The role got bigger.

All-Big Tenfirst

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#116 national

CFB

College

Illinois

2019–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

3 honors · 2 categories

🥈

ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM

All-Big Ten 1st team (2023)

🎓

FRESHMAN HONORS

Freshman recognition (2020)

1 mention(s)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2023

3 coaches

2019

Lovie Smith

Illinois

2020

Rod Smith

Illinois

era →

2021–2023

Bret Bielema

Illinois

era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Lovie Smith, Rod Smith, and Bret Bielema. Multi-era developmental context.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019Illinois6-7HC: Lovie Smith · Run-leaning

2020Illinois2-6HC: Rod Smith · Run-heavy

2021Illinois5-7HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning

2022Illinois8-5HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning

2023Illinois5-7HC: Bret Bielema · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

81All-Conference level #37 of 497?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (96th percentile). Strength: rec yards (96th percentile). Concern: catch rate (27th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#264 / 639 · 59th pct

15.0%

Yards / catch#280 / 639 · 56th pct

12.7

EPA / target#431 / 639 · 33rd pct

0.59

TD rate#434 / 639 · 32nd pct

3.7%

Catch rate#466 / 639 · 27th pct

74.8%

Box-score rates (8)

Receptions#22 / 566 · 96th pct

Rec yards#25 / 566 · 96th pct

1055

Rush yards#52 / 294 · 82nd pct

Long catch#118 / 566 · 79th pct

Rec TDs#109 / 566 · 78th pct

Yards / catch#286 / 566 · 49th pct

12.9

Rush TDs#54 / 294 · 41st pct

Fumbles lost#224 / 227 · 1st pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

28th → 33rd percentile

Explosive rate

16th → 59th percentile

Catch rate

66th → 27th percentile

TD rate

46th → 32nd percentile

Yards / catch

21st → 56th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2023 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	6.4	80.6	11.5	0.3
Road5g	7.4	98.2	13.9	0.6

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	6.0	78.0	13.0	0.1
Weeks 8+5g	8.0	102	11.8	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bret Bielema

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2023

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

81 · #37 of 497 WRs

Former four-star. Now #37 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Illinois	82	1,055	12.9	5	--
2022	Illinois	81	709	8.8	5	--
2021	Illinois	47	525	11.2	4	--
2020	Illinois	--	--	--	--	--
2019	Illinois	3	9	3.0	0	--
Career		213	2,298	10.8	14	--

Season	Team
2023	Illinois	12	38	--	127	--
2022	Illinois	7	5	--	120	--
2021	Illinois	12	61	--	--	--
2020	Illinois	63	389	--	--	--
2019	Illinois	9	16	--	--	--
Career		103	509	--	247	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2023

W 27–24

at Maryland

4 rec · 43 yds · 1 TD

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.

With L. Altmyer — 206 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 63.1 · 29 rush yds (13 car) · H. Robertson — 43 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 53 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 4 · Florida Atlantic · 3&13 · Q3 · EPA +4.64Luke Altmyer pass complete to Isaiah Williams for 45 yds to the FAU 37 for a 1ST down Florida Atlantic Penalty, Face Mask (15 yards) (Romain Mungin) to the FAU 22 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Indiana · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.76John Paddock pass complete to Isaiah Williams for 67 yds to the IU 8 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Minnesota · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.54John Paddock pass complete to Isaiah Williams for 46 yds for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed)
Week 12 · Iowa · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.39John Paddock pass complete to Isaiah Williams for 32 yds to the IOWA 34 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Purdue · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.33Luke Altmyer pass complete to Isaiah Williams for 49 yds to the PUR 7 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Indiana · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.29Isaiah Williams 42 Yd pass from John Paddock (Caleb Griffin Kick)
Week 10 · Minnesota · 3&8 · Q1 · EPA +2.97Luke Altmyer pass complete to Isaiah Williams for 9 yds for a TD (Caleb Griffin KICK)
Week 7 · Maryland · 3&4 · Q3 · EPA +2.88Luke Altmyer pass complete to Isaiah Williams for 15 yds for a TD (Caleb Griffin KICK)
Week 13 · Northwestern · 3&4 · Q4 · EPA +2.86Pat Bryant 14 Yd pass from Isaiah Williams (John Paddock Pass to Tip Reiman for Two-Point Conversion)
Week 3 · Penn State · 3&9 · Q1 · EPA +2.55Luke Altmyer pass complete to Isaiah Williams for 13 yds to the PSU 32 for a 1ST down Penn State Penalty, Defensive Offside (Jaylen Reed) declined for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 30-28vs Toledo	5	51	10.2	0	20
Wk 2	L 23-34@ Kansas	6	99	16.5	0	29
Wk 3	L 13-30vs Penn State	5	63	12.6	0	32
Wk 4	W 23-17vs Florida Atlantic	8	120	15.0	0	45
Wk 5	L 19-44@ Purdue	6	113	18.8	0	49
Wk 6	L 7-20vs Nebraska	8	57	7.1	0	21
Wk 7	W 27-24@ Maryland	4	43	10.8	1	18
Wk 8	L 21-25vs Wisconsin	4	16	4.0	0	11
Wk 10	W 27-26@ Minnesota	13	131	10.1	2	46	2 TD catches
Wk 11	W 48-45vs Indiana	9	200	22.2	2	67	Season-high 200 yds
Wk 12	L 13-15@ Iowa	8	105	13.1	0	32
Wk 13	L 43-45vs Northwestern	6	57	9.5	0	19
Total		82	1055	12.5	5	67

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Isaiah Williams

20194 games

202312 games

2023 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Slot Technician

Players who play like Isaiah Williams

Background