It’s been said before, but Wilson is built more like a running back than a wide receiver, and his running style is pretty unique as well. Once he’s got the ball in his hands, Wilson is more capable than most receivers in the league at creating extra yards with good open-field vision, solid cutting ability and good core strength to break tackles. He’s tough to corral for defenses, and that’s a big deal in Reid’s offense.
In fact, I would call YAC ability Wilson’s absolute top trait. He’s good enough with the ball in his hands that you could even refer to it as “running ability.” The Chiefs have used Wilson on jet sweeps and even right out of the backfield in the past, with decent results. There’s definitely value in a player you can move all over the field and use of various gadget plays to create unpredictability.
Another good trait for Wilson is the ability to create separation in specific circumstances. He’s not a great “multi-cut” route runner, or even a particularly good one, but on one cut and go routes he does a nice job.
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Wilson has always had and continues to have a limited catch radius. While he’ll occasionally make a good catch in which he has to stretch, it is not something you can count on him to do consistently at all. He is also pretty poor at tracking and adjusting to the ball down the field, an utterly crucial skill as a deep threat.
The combination of those two weaknesses negates a lot of what Wilson could be as a field-stretching fast guy. The reality is it’s tough to trust him down the field because he requires a very good throw in order to make the catch. The preference (at least for me) is a guy who can adjust to a ball that is off-target because the farther down the field you get, the less accurate the throws will be. The ability to adjust to and catch an inaccurate ball is what separates fast guys from legitimate deep threats (see Hill, Tyreek).
Additionally, while Wilson does demonstrate some quickness on certain routes, it’s on a limited tree. When he’s asked to perform more than a single cut, his footwork suffers and he doesn’t look nearly as quick in his routes. That’s a real problem, in that it limits what you can ask him to do.
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