Kyren Williams

Williams will be an interesting case study after his improbable 2023 breakout season, one where he ran for nearly 100 yards per game while scoring 15 touchdowns (12 rushing, three receiving) in just 12 games. Coach Sean McVay values Williams' pass-blocking abilities to the point that the RB almost never left the field last year, playing an average of 55 snaps per game. It's an incredibly heavy workload for a running back, especially one listed at 5-9, 195. In other words, it feels like Williams' best season might have already occurred. Not just because his stats are due for general regression, but because Williams is one of the smaller starting RBs and has already had trouble holding up physically. The 2022 fifth-round pick missed much of his rookie offseason due to a broken foot and then suffered a high-ankle sprain Week 1 on special teams, ultimately finishing the season with 44 touches in 10 games. Last year, Williams quickly earned a starring role but later missed five weeks (four games) with another ankle injury. There's a reason you don't see 195-pound backs taking 20 carries per game in the NFL, and the Rams may have doubts of their own given that they used a third-round pick on RB Blake Corum this April. Corum's involvement in the offense would lower Williams' fantasy ceiling but increase his odds of staying healthy -- a poor trade-off short term but perhaps beneficial in the long run.

Injuries defined Williams' rookie year, with a broken foot wiping out most of his preseason and a Week 1 high-ankle sprain keeping him out until Week 10. When he returned, he didn't do much. He got 30-plus snaps in Weeks 11 and 12 and totaled 104 yards on 22 touches, but his playing time dwindled from there with Week 18 resulting in zero offensive snaps. Williams was a good runner and great receiver at Notre Dame, but at 5-9, 194, he is both short and skinny for his height, and his athletic testing just added more reason for doubt. A running back might overcome being "too small" if athletic enough, but Williams' 4.65-second 40, 32-inch vertical and 116-inch broad jump don't impress. His size-adjusted athleticism is poor to the point that it might negate his polished skill set. He enters camp as the potential backup to Cam Akers, competing for snaps with Sony Michel and fellow fringe prospects Zach Evans, Ronnie Rivers and Tiyon Evans.

Williams, a fifth-round draft pick this year, is neither big (194 pounds) nor fast (4.65 40), but that didn't stop him from putting up back-to-back seasons at Notre Dame with more than 1,000 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards. He handled those large workloads on the ground in college with solid results, as he used his agility and balance to dance through traffic and make defenders miss. Williams won't run many defenders over, nor does he have breakaway speed, but a balanced skill set could get him on the field this year. Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson return to head the backfield, but both struggled to stay healthy last year and neither stood out in the passing game, potentially creating an opening for Williams to earn rookie-year touches. The upside for Williams, if everything goes his way, might be something like Dion Lewis' best years as a Patriot.