Damien Williams making case to be the guy in Chiefs backfield in 2019 -
With Kareem Hunt gone and Spencer Ware set to be a free agent, Damien and Darrel Williams are the only two backs on the roster. It’s clear that Andy Reid is most comfortable with Damien, especially after giving him a heavy workload of 30 touches against the Colts. Not only are the touches significant, but the talent has jumped out in both the run and pass game. He’s being used in every situation — early down, third and passing downs, goal line, and even converted several short-yardage 4th down attempts in this last game.
I wasn’t a fan of Williams as a runner on the Dolphins, but his prowess in the passing game has always been clear. However, in his latest opportunity, he’s showing moves, balance on contact, and is getting better at gaining extra yards after contact as well. Not to mention with Patrick Mahomes as your QB, teams can’t stack the box against you. Compare the Rams gameplan against Zeke, where they forced Dak to throw the ball while they stacked the box a whopping 40% of the time, compared to the Colts, who only felt comfortable doing that 8% of the time. Throughout the regular season, Kareem Hunt only saw 8+ defenders in the box only 15% of the time. That combined with Andy Reid type of RB usage and historical efficiency makes Williams a potential late first round to early second round pick in 2019 fantasy drafts if they don’t add anyone of note.
30 touches are quite high for one RB in an Andy Reid offense, so we shouldn’t expect that sort of usage next year. However, KC backs are usually efficient;. Williams went over 100 combined yards and had at least 5 receptions in 3 of his last 4 games, and had 140+ combined yards in 2 of those games. Yards per carry isn’t an individual stat, but averaging almost 5.7 per carry over the last 4 games is nothing to balk at, especially since we’re talking about him in the same system next year.
Assuming the Chiefs don’t sign anyone of note at the RB position, which RBs are you taking ahead of him in 2019 PPR leagues?
Originally published at upperhandfantasy.com on January 14, 2019.
