No player in the NFL averaged more rushing yards per game last season than Kyren Williams. Only four running backs in the entire league scored more touchdowns on the ground than Williams, who missed five games due to injury and rest.
He was statistically one of the best running backs in football a year ago, breaking out in a big way as a second-year player. When he was on the field, the Rams offense was significantly better and more efficient, which isn’t a coincidence.
Heading into the 2024 season, Williams is widely viewed as a top back, but Pro Football Focus apparently doesn’t agree with that sentiment. PFF’s Thomas Valentine ranked the 32 best running backs in the NFL entering the 2024 season and Williams wasn’t in the top five. He wasn’t in the top 10, either. In fact, he didn’t even crack the top 15.
Williams was ranked 16th, a disrespectful spot to put the Rams running back after the season he just had.
After a quiet rookie season in which he received just 35 touches, Kyren Williams exploded in his second season in the NFL, earning an 80.3 grade across 12 games. In those outings, Williams rushed for 1,144 yards and 12 touchdowns at 5.0 yards per carry, and he also led the league in rushing yards per game.
He forced the 10th-most missed tackles, averaged 3.34 yards after contact and racked up 26 explosive runs of 10-plus yards. He’ll continue to feature in the Rams’ offense moving forward.
It would’ve been understandable for Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor, Nick Chubb and maybe even Bijan Robinson to be ranked ahead of Williams. They’re more physically gifted players, which gives them a higher ceiling.
However, putting Tony Pollard two spots higher than Williams is hard to understand. Pollard averaged a full yard fewer per carry than Williams (4.0 vs. 5.0) last season and only scored six total touchdowns as the Cowboys’ feature back in all 17 games. Williams averaged 36.2 more yards per game than Pollard, too.
Some other notable backs ranked higher than Williams are Isiah Pacheco (15th), Kenneth Walker II (12th), Travis Etienne (11th) and Jahmyr Gibbs (9th). There are a lot of talented backs in the league right now and Williams is undoubtedly among the best when healthy.