The Montreal Alouettes announced the signing of an American wide receiver on Friday. Williams played for Colorado State and Tennessee in college before joining the Miami Dolphins. He was one of the leading FBS receivers in 2018.
WR Preston Williams – Colorado State (27 y/o, 6’5, 220 lbs)
Preston Williams began his career with Tennesee where he played in 14 games over the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He recorded 16 catches for 247 yards and 2 touchdowns with the Volunteers. He was named SEC Freshman of the Week on September 21 2015 after scoring 2 touchdowns against Western Carolina.
Williams transferred to Colorado State and sat out the 2017 season due to transfer rules. He did participate in track and field in 2017. He was named All-Mountain West in the indoor triple jump and was Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Men’s Field Athlete of the Week on February 21, 2017.
Williams had a big year in 2018 appearing in all 12 games for the program. He recorded 96 receptions for 1,345 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was one of the FBS receiving leaders in the country finishing 3rd in receptions, 3rd in touchdowns, and 4th in receiving yards.
Williams finished the 2018 season with the 2nd most receptions and receiving touchdowns in Colorado State’s history. He also had the third-most receiving yards in the program’s history. He finished the He was named First Team All-Mountain West following the season.
Despite having 1 year of eligibility left, Williams declared for the 2019 NFL Draft. He joined the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent. He appeared in 8 games with 7 starts with the Dolphins in 2019 recording 32 catches for 428 yards and 3 touchdowns. His rookie season was cut short by a torn ACL in week 9. At the time of his injury, he was the team’s leading receiver.
William’s 2nd NFL season was also cut short as he was placed on injured reserve due to a foot injury. He played in 8 games with 7 starts in 2020 catching 18 passes for 288 yards and 4 touchdowns. In 2021 he played in 8 games with 3 starts for the Dolphins catching 6 passes for 71 yards.
Williams played in 24 games with the Panthers totalling 56 receptions for 787 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Williams was waived by the Dolphins ahead of the 2022 season and subsequently spent most of the season on the Carolina Panthers practice squad. He was released by the Panthers in May of 2023. He signed with the DC Defenders of the UFL this past December although he was waived just ahead of teams cutting their rosters down to 58 players.
The CFL training camp will open on May 12. This is close to the same time the Alouettes signed receiver Austin Mack just ahead of camp who had a big year leading to his signing with the Atlanta Falcons this offseason. Mack signed with Montreal on May 4 last year.
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Jonathan ClinkReporter
Jonathan Clink joined CFL News Hub in early April of 2023. His primary responsibilities are covering the BC Lions and Montreal Alouettes.
He self awarded himself the CFL Rookie Journalist of the Year in 2023 following the 2023 CFL season. He also proclaims himself to be a "really cool guy". He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and lived a large portion of his childhood in Northwest Ontario. He currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan and misses being being able to have 4 months of skating every winter.
Clink has written over 240 articles for CFL News Hub. He was the publication's boots on the ground at the 2023 Grey Cup in Hamilton.
Clink has always had an obsession for sport and has a background in other sports as well having played hockey all his life and soccer, basketball, and lacrosse in high school. As a young child he used to log his hockey statistics after every game which is either an indication that he was destined for the role or perhaps and indication that he is rather strange.
