A few months back when I saw Damien Williams being selected in the third round of way too early fantasy drafts, I thought it was too soon. More recently, it's looked about right. And now, with him being drafted in the second round a little more often, I'm thinking that's even more appropriate. Depending on where in the round, I'm wondering if it's soon enough.
In a video at the team website, Andy Reid makes it clear that Williams is the full-time starter. "He's taken that challenge," says Reid. "He's earned the right to be that guy." People worried about Carlos Hyde making this some kind of a committee can probably forget it. Hyde's a backup (and not necessarily even the No. 2; Kansas City has other candidates). Williams is going to get a chance to fill the Kareem Hunt role, as he did down the stretch last year.
Including the playoffs, Williams started five games last year. In those five contests, he averaged 21 fantasy points per game (non-PPR). That was better than Hunt; better than every back who started or had a major role for at least half the season but Todd Gurley.
| RUNNING BACK FANTASY POINTS PER GAME, 2018 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | Run | No | Rec | Total | TD | FPG |
| Todd Gurley, LAR | 14 | 89.4 | 4.2 | 41.4 | 130.8 | 1.50 | 22.1 |
| Damien Williams, K.C. | 5 | 72.4 | 4.8 | 42.0 | 114.4 | 1.60 | 21.0 |
| Kareem Hunt, K.C. | 11 | 74.9 | 2.4 | 34.4 | 109.3 | 1.27 | 18.6 |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 12 | 73.8 | 4.2 | 40.8 | 114.6 | 1.17 | 18.5 |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 16 | 81.7 | 5.7 | 45.1 | 126.8 | .94 | 18.3 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 15 | 58.9 | 5.4 | 47.3 | 106.1 | 1.20 | 17.8 |
| James Conner, Pitt. | 13 | 74.8 | 4.2 | 38.2 | 113.1 | 1.00 | 17.3 |
| Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 16 | 68.6 | 6.7 | 54.2 | 122.8 | .81 | 17.2 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 15 | 95.6 | 5.1 | 37.8 | 133.4 | .60 | 16.9 |
| Aaron Jones, G.B. | 8 | 67.5 | 2.8 | 20.6 | 88.1 | 1.00 | 14.8 |
| Nick Chubb, Cle. | 10 | 82.3 | 2.0 | 14.9 | 97.2 | .80 | 14.5 |
| Phillip Lindsay, Den. | 9 | 76.8 | 2.3 | 14.2 | 91.0 | .89 | 14.4 |
| Marlon Mack, Ind. | 11 | 79.5 | 1.5 | 9.2 | 88.6 | .91 | 14.3 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 14 | 83.4 | 3.1 | 21.1 | 104.6 | .64 | 14.3 |
| Chris Carson, Sea. | 14 | 82.2 | 1.4 | 11.6 | 93.9 | .64 | 13.2 |
| Phillip Lindsay, Den. | 15 | 69.1 | 2.3 | 16.1 | 85.2 | .67 | 12.5 |
| David Johnson, Ariz. | 16 | 58.8 | 3.1 | 27.9 | 86.6 | .63 | 12.4 |
| Leonard Fournette, Jac. | 8 | 54.9 | 2.8 | 23.1 | 78.0 | .75 | 12.3 |
| James White (3rd), N.E. | 16 | 26.6 | 5.4 | 46.9 | 73.5 | .75 | 11.9 |
| Kerryon Johnson, Det. | 9 | 69.3 | 3.2 | 21.4 | 90.8 | .44 | 11.7 |
| Derrick Henry, Ten. | 16 | 66.2 | .9 | 6.2 | 72.4 | .75 | 11.7 |
| Gus Edwards, Balt. | 7 | 93.4 | .1 | 1.9 | 95.3 | .29 | 11.2 |
| Adrian Peterson, Was. | 16 | 65.1 | 1.3 | 13.0 | 78.1 | .50 | 10.8 |
| Tevin Coleman, Atl. | 14 | 54.7 | 2.1 | 16.8 | 71.5 | .57 | 10.6 |
| Dalvin Cook, Min. | 11 | 55.9 | 3.6 | 27.7 | 83.6 | .36 | 10.5 |
| Carlos Hyde, Cle.-Jac. | 7 | 56.4 | 1.1 | 5.0 | 61.4 | .71 | 10.4 |
| Sony Michel, N.E. | 13 | 71.6 | .5 | 3.8 | 75.5 | .46 | 10.3 |
| Tarik Cohen, Chi. | 16 | 27.8 | 4.4 | 45.3 | 73.1 | .50 | 10.3 |
| Mark Ingram, N.O. | 12 | 53.8 | 1.8 | 14.2 | 67.9 | .58 | 10.3 |
| Jordan Howard, Chi. | 16 | 58.4 | 1.3 | 9.1 | 67.5 | .56 | 10.1 |
| Lamar Miller, Hou. | 15 | 64.9 | 1.7 | 10.9 | 75.7 | .40 | 10.0 |
| Alex Collins, Balt. | 10 | 41.1 | 1.5 | 10.5 | 51.6 | .80 | 10.0 |
| T.J. Yeldon, Jac. | 7 | 35.3 | 5.4 | 47.0 | 82.3 | .29 | 9.9 |
| Matt Breida, S.F. | 14 | 58.1 | 1.9 | 18.6 | 76.8 | .36 | 9.8 |
| Doug Martin, Oak. | 10 | 62.4 | 1.4 | 11.1 | 73.5 | .40 | 9.8 |
| Kenyan Drake, Mia. | 16 | 33.4 | 3.3 | 29.8 | 63.3 | .56 | 9.7 |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 11 | 38.6 | 2.5 | 29.8 | 68.5 | .45 | 9.6 |
| Isaiah Crowell, NYJ | 13 | 52.7 | 1.6 | 11.7 | 64.4 | .46 | 9.2 |
| Peyton Barber, T.B. | 16 | 54.4 | 1.3 | 5.8 | 60.2 | .38 | 8.3 |
| Wendell Smallwood, Phil. | 11 | 33.2 | 2.5 | 20.9 | 54.1 | .45 | 8.1 |
| Josh Adams, Phil. | 9 | 51.7 | .8 | 6.4 | 58.1 | .33 | 7.8 |
| LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 14 | 36.7 | 2.4 | 17.0 | 53.7 | .21 | 6.7 |
| Dion Lewis, Ten. | 16 | 32.3 | 3.7 | 25.0 | 57.3 | .13 | 6.5 |
| Frank Gore, Mia. | 14 | 51.6 | .9 | 8.9 | 60.4 | .07 | 6.5 |
| Jamaal Williams, G.B. | 8 | 40.4 | 2.1 | 16.8 | 57.1 | .13 | 6.5 |
| Royce Freeman, Den. | 14 | 37.2 | 1.0 | 5.1 | 42.4 | .36 | 6.4 |
| Nyheim Hines (3rd), Ind. | 16 | 19.6 | 3.9 | 26.6 | 46.2 | .25 | 6.1 |
| Ito Smith, Atl. | 12 | 25.8 | 2.2 | 12.3 | 38.1 | .33 | 5.8 |
| Jalen Richard (3rd), Oak. | 16 | 16.2 | 4.3 | 37.9 | 54.1 | .06 | 5.8 |
| Chris Thompson (3rd), Was. | 9 | 19.8 | 4.6 | 29.8 | 49.6 | .11 | 5.6 |
| Corey Clement, Phil. | 11 | 23.5 | 2.0 | 17.5 | 41.0 | .18 | 5.2 |
| Duke Johnson (3rd), Cle. | 16 | 12.6 | 2.9 | 26.8 | 39.4 | .19 | 5.1 |
| Mike Davis, Sea. | 13 | 27.3 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 40.3 | .15 | 5.0 |
| LeGarrette Blount, Det. | 16 | 26.1 | .6 | 4.2 | 30.3 | .31 | 4.9 |
| Theo Riddick (3rd), Det. | 14 | 12.2 | 4.4 | 27.4 | 39.6 | .00 | 4.0 |
| Giovani Bernard (3rd), Cin. | 10 | 8.1 | 2.6 | 16.6 | 24.7 | .00 | 2.5 |
Where we've ranked Williams, he'll probably be on a lot of Fantasy Index reader teams. Reid's words suggest he'll be worth it.
--Andy Richardson