_(52514541904)_(cropped).jpg) Williams withIllinois in 2022 | |||||||||||||
| No. 18 – New York Jets | |||||||||||||
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| Positions | Wide receiver Return specialist | ||||||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (2001-01-29)January 29, 2001 (age 24) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Trinity Catholic (St. Louis, Missouri) | ||||||||||||
| College | Illinois (2019–2023) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2024: undrafted | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 11, 2025 | |||||||||||||
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Isaiah Williams (born January 29, 2001) is an American professionalfootballwide receiver andreturn specialist for theNew York Jets of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theIllinois Fighting Illini, where he was a first-teamAll-Big Ten selection.
Williams attendedTrinity Catholic High School inSt. Louis, Missouri. He playedquarterback in high school.[1] Williams was the MissouriGatorade Football Player of the Year both his junior and senior seasons.[2] He played in the 2019Under Armour All-America Game.[3] He committed to theUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to play college football.[4]
Williams played quarterback his first two years at Illinois in 2019 and 2020. He played in four games his first season and took a redshirt. As a redshirt freshman in 2020, he started four games and played in one other. In his first career start, he rushed for 192 yards, which was a school record for quarterbacks.[5] Overall for the season, he completed 26 of 63 passes for 393 yards with fourtouchdowns and two interceptions and rushed for 389 yards with a touchdown.
Prior to the 2021 season, Williams was switched to wide receiver.[6] In his first year as a receiver, he led the team with 47 receptions for 525 yards and four touchdowns.[7] He started all 13 games in 2022 and again led the team with 82 receptions for 715 yards and five touchdowns.[8]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft9+1⁄4 in (1.76 m) | 182 lb (83 kg) | 30+1⁄8 in (0.77 m) | 9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) | 4.57 s | 1.56 s | 2.62 s | 4.11 s | 6.75 s | 38.0 in (0.97 m) | 10 ft 8 in (3.25 m) | 17 reps | |
| All values fromNFL Combine/Pro Day[9][10][11] | ||||||||||||
On April 28, 2024, Williams signed with theDetroit Lions as anundrafted free agent, after not being selected in the2024 NFL draft.[12] He was notably among the 53 players to make the Lions initial Week 1 roster. However, he was released by the team on November 7.[13]
On November 8, 2024, Williams was claimed off waivers by theCincinnati Bengals.[14] Starting with the Bengals' Week 14 game against theDallas Cowboys, Williams took over punt return duties for the Bengals after an injury toCharlie Jones.[15] He remained in the role for the rest of the season.[16]
On August 26, 2025, Williams was waived by the Bengals as part of final roster cuts and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.[17][18]
On September 10, 2025, Williams was signed by theNew York Jets off the Bengals' practice squad.[19] He was released on October 4, and re-signed to the practice squad.[20] Williams was promoted to the active roster on October 18.[21] In Week 8, Williams returned five kicks for 132 yards and three punts for 38 yards in a 39-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, earning AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.[22]