20/20: Jamaal Williams

Austan Kas Posted On February 10, 2017

Welcome to the 20/20 series. As part of our continued Dynasty Scouts coverage and in preparation for the NFL Combine, we’ll be profiling 20 of the top incoming rookies of the class of 2017 by giving you 20 facts you must know.

1.) Player Name — Jamaal Williams.

2.) College — BYU.

3.) Height/Weight — 6-foot-2, 220 pounds

4.) Birth date — April 3, 1995.

5.) Class — Redshirt Senior.

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6.) Basic college stats — For his career, Williams carried the ball 726 times for 3,901 yards and 35 touchdowns. He added 60 catches for 567 yards and one score as a receiver. In 2016, he turned 234 carries into 1,375 yards (5.9 YPC) and 12 scores, tacking on seven receptions for 80 yards.

7.) NFL Draft round projection — Fourth or fifth round. Honestly, Williams may have a good chance of sneaking into the third round in a lot of years, but with the depth of this year’s running back class, he’s going to fall a bit. Based off watching his on-field play, I don’t think Williams is going to excel at the combine, either, which isn’t going to help his stock.

8.) Current NFL comp — Matt Forte. OK, OK. Stick with me here. I fully realize Forte is one of the best — and most consistent — backs of the recent era, and I’m not saying Williams is of that ilk. Where I see similarities is in how they run with seemingly effortless strides but also pack a physical element. They are built similarly, as well (Williams is 6-foot-2, 220 pounds and Forte is 6-foot-2, 218 pounds). Also, while Williams isn’t as exceptional of a pass catcher as Forte (few in NFL history are), he has shown some pass-catching skills, which we’ll get to in a minute.

9.) Best possible destination — Indianapolis Colts. I think the Colts, at least from a fantasy perspective, are going to be the best possible destination for a running back this year. Frank Gore is signed through next season and has still been a productive player, but starting in 2018, one of the league’s top offenses will have a big hole in the backfield.

10.) Worst possible destination — Well, we could throw out places like Seattle, Dallas, Chicago or Tennessee, teams with crowded depth charts, but doing so wouldn’t really give you any useful information. Let’s look at it a different way: out of the realistic landing spots, which would be the worst. I’d lean towards Tampa Bay. The Bucs’ backfield is in flux due to Doug Martin’s issues, so the team could be looking to add a back. However, I’m a believer in Charles Sims, and Jacquizz Rodgers was good in limited opportunity in 2016. I don’t think it’s a great fit for Williams.

11.) Best current skill — He’s a good downhill runner. Williams looks like a glider, but when he sticks his foot in the ground, he can get downhill with some pop. As we’ve already mentioned — and as you likely already know — this is a special class for running backs (2018 will be, too). That’s caused Williams to fly under the radar a bit, but I think he can end up being a solid pro.

12.) Skill that needs to be improved — Williams doesn’t possess big-time speed. It’ll be interesting to see what he runs at the combine. If he’s able to get into the 4.5 range at his size, he could climb up draft boards, but if he falls closer to 4.7, it could really sink his stock. Based off what I see when I watch him, I’m afraid he’s a longshot to get into the 4.5s.

13.) Past/current rookie ADP — We don’t have any rookie ADP data yet, so we’ll look at our 2017 class rankings. Williams checks in 18th overall and is our RB9. He’s ranked as highly as RB5 and as lowly as RB19.

14.) Projected dynasty value — As it is with any running back, his landing spot is going to be a factor, but his ranking puts him firmly in the second round. However, I foresee Williams ending up as an early-third-round pick in rookie drafts this summer unless his combine numbers come back better than what I’m assuming.

15.) Youth on his side — Even though Williams spent five years at BYU, sitting out the 2015 entirely, he won’t turn 22 until this April. That means he is younger than true junior Leonard Fournette, who turned 22 in January of this year.

16.) Shouldering the load — Williams was a workhorse in his four years in Provo, Utah. He averaged 181.5 carries per year, and he had two seasons with at least 200 carries (2013 and 2016)

17.) Catching on — Through his first two seasons, Williams hauled in 45 catches for 440 yards, showing good all-around ability. Over his final two campaigns, however, he caught just 15 balls for 127 yards.

18.) Going big — Williams put together some monster games in his senior season, including a pair of 200-yard performances. Williams erupted for 286 yards and a whopping five touchdowns on 30 carries versus Toledo, and he ended his college career with a 26-carry, 210-yard day in a bowl game win over Wyoming. Williams also showed out against Michigan State (30-163-2) and West Virginia (24-169-2). In the three games against Michigan State, Toledo and West Virginia, which came in three consecutive outings, he racked up 618 rushing yards and nine scores on 84 carries.

19.) Safe and sound — Williams only fumbled the ball five time in 726 attempts in college — or once every 145.2 carries. So, yeah, that shouldn’t be an issue.

20.) Red flags — Williams missed the entire 2015 season for what was reported as a violation of team rules. NFL teams will surely do their diligence and find out exactly why Williams was suspended, and it could factor into his draft stock. He also suffered a “significant” knee injury in 2014, cutting his season to eight games. Despite that, like we said earlier, he is due to turn just 22 in April.

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