Kyren Williams was limited to just 12 games last season, one of which he wasn’t even the starter for. Injuries have hampered him thus far in his NFL career but when healthy, Williams has looked like a top-10 running back in the league.
Despite missing five games last year, Williams still finished third in rushing yards and fifth among all running backs in rushing touchdowns. To put Williams’ numbers into perspective, he averaged more rushing yards per game (95.3) than any other player in the NFL and his 5.0 yards per carry was the fourth-highest among players at his position.
Oh, and his 15 total touchdowns were the third-most in the league, even though he played fewer games than every player in the top 15 in that category. When it comes to efficiency, Williams was one of the best at his position.
That’s what makes the fact that he got absolutely no respect from NFL executives, coaches and scouts so surprising. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler polled personnel evaluators around the league on the best running backs in football and not only was Williams left out of the top 10, but he also wasn’t one of the seven players to receive an honorable mention.
He was listed in the “also receiving votes” category alongside James Conner, Tony Pollard, Raheem Mostert, Najee Harris, David Montgomery, Rhamondre Stevenson and Austin Ekeler.
Some of the players ranked ahead of Williams is downright shocking. For instance, Kenneth Walker of the Seahawks was an honorable mention, a player Williams had 199 more rushing yards than last season despite playing three fewer games. Alvin Kamara, who’s fallen off dramatically in the last two years, was also ahead of Williams. In the last two seasons (28 games), Kamara only has 447 more rushing yards and five fewer touchdowns than Williams had in just 12 games last season.
Jahmyr Gibbs was ranked eighth, Travis Etienne Jr. was 10th and both Joe Mixon and D’Andre Swift were honorable mentions, somehow ranked higher than Williams.
Perhaps league execs and coaches believe Williams was a one-year wonder behind a great offensive line. Or maybe they didn’t recognize how good he was because he only played 12 games. Whatever the case may be, Williams certainly deserves to be heralded as a top-10 back in the NFL entering 2024 – or at the very least, earn an honorable mention in a poll like this one.