Rookie Profile: Joe Williams, RB Utah

How can you make a guy with a name like Joe Williams sound exciting?  Is it even possible?  I just finished my pieces on the exciting RB/WR hybrid Curtis Samuel and the ever-so-awesomely named Amba Etta-Tawo and now I get some guy named Joe.

It’s a good thing that some guy isn’t just your “Average” Joe.

Ha!  I knew I’d come up with something.

Yes, Joe Williams’ story isn’t average at all.  After just two weeks of the 2016 college football season Joe decided to call it quits and “retire” from football.  However, Joe quickly realized that playing bridge and golf wearing checkered grandpa pants up to your belly button wasn’t all that people make it out to be.  Just a few short weeks later came back with a boom putting up some ridiculous statistics.

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Some Ridiculous Statistics

Statistics from sports-reference.com.

At first glance Joe Williams’ overall statistical profile doesn’t seem that impressive.  It’s just two seasons.  He didn’t even have 1,500 rushing yards in his final season.  That’s not very “ridiculous” at all.

Let’s break it down so that the “ridiculous” becomes a little clearer.

It’s clear to see that when Joe Williams took on the role of primary back around Thanksgiving of 2015 he didn’t waste any time stomping face.  He crushed UCLA and Colorado for 152 and 187 total yards respectively.  Then Joe finished off the season with 91 yards and two touchdowns against the stout BYU defense.

Some of Joe’s detractors tend to spout some irrational babble about him being a scat back.  He may look like a smaller guy due to his insane burst and wiggle, but he’s actually 5’11”, 210 pounds.  Translation: nearly the same exact size as Dalvin Cook.  And it’s not like he couldn’t carry the load at Utah.  Joe carried the ball an average of 28.3 times in the three aforementioned games to end the 2015 season.

Yes, after starting off 2016 slowly and then retiring there were tons of questions about his future.  When he came back a few weeks after retiring (briefly) there were more than enough articles out there about how Joe just may not be cut out for a significant workload.

*Ahem*

So, about that…

Joe apparently came back determined to silence the critics, more driven than ever, because he resumed stomping the face of defenses across the country without any delay.  Williams averaged nearly 27 carries per game for the entire remainder of the 2016 season.  What he did with those carries was the most impressive part though.

Williams had just one game with less than 149 rushing yards after he came back from his brief stint playing chess in the park with all of his retired buddies.  Oh, right, and then there was his 332-yard, four touchdown demolishing of UCLA.

His “worst” game came against Colorado’s top-20 defense two days after Thanksgiving.  He “only” managed 97 yards on the ground.  But let’s be real guys and gals, everyone’s a little slower after Thanksgiving.

But Joe wasn’t done there.

No, Joe decided to place an exclamation point at the end of his miraculous comeback in Utah’s bowl game against Indiana.  He compiled 278 total yards against the immensely underrated Hoosier defense to remind the critics that he did indeed deserve a shot in the NFL.

Okay, so the stats weren’t that ridiculous were they?  Let’s just recap.

Joe Williams averaged 190 rushing yards per game in the final seven games of the 2016 season.  D’Onta Foreman of Texas averaged 184 rushing yards on the season, but beyond him no other running back in the country averaged even 150 yards per game.

Out of all running backs in the nation to eclipse 1400 rushing yards “Mean Joe” did it on the least amount of carries (210).  In fact, of all running backs with at least 200 carries only Aaron Jones of UTEP and Anthony Wales of Western Kentucky averaged more yards per carry on the year (against much weaker competition).

Mean Joe has skills, and it clearly showed up on the stat sheet.

That Speed Though

Yes, the first thing that anyone with two eyes (maybe even just one) will notice while watching Joe Williams’ tape is that he runs like a cheetah shot out of a cannon (don’t think about that one too hard).

Joe’s 4.41-second 40-yard dash places him safely inside the 95th percentile for running backs in straight-line speed, according to his Player Profiler page.  The only running back at the NFL Combine this year to run the 40-yard dash faster was T.J. Logan of North Carolina (who weighs 15 pounds less than Joe).

Joe’s burst score (stemming from his vertical and broad jumps) is well above average as well.  His 35” vertical was just outside of the top five this year among running backs, but his 10’5” broad jump was good for fourth.

The agility score is where things get a little less than ideal.  However, if you watch two seconds of tape you’ll know that Joe has plenty of wiggle when running downhill through defenses.

Mixed Bag of Comparable Prospects

At first glance of his Mock Draftable web, it’s easy to find a lot of above average back-up running backs in the NFL that compare to Joe Williams.  That seems to support the “scat back” or “change-of-pace” narrative.  However, upon digging for a moment you’ll also notice Felix Jones.  Many forget that Felix was a first round pick by the Cowboys in 2008.

Felix is probably the best comparison out there when you combine physical tools and style of play.  Joe weighs three pounds more than Felix, but their 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump and 20-yard shuttle are virtually identical.  And just like Felix, Joe didn’t have much experience catching passes in college.  Felix developed over time in that way, but probably not fast enough.  If Joe Williams can prove to be useful in the passing game on top of being able to carry the ball 20 times per game (or more) he could find more sustained success than Felix did.

Other comparable players like Jeremy Langford (via PlayerProfiler), Damien Williams, Bernard Pierce, and Antonio Pittman aren’t the best for implied future NFL success.  However, the truth is that it’s simply incredibly hard to find success in the NFL for anybody.

Summary

Joe Williams does not profile as a freak athletic feature back like David Johnson or Le’Veon Bell.  He’s a slightly smaller running back those two freaks of nature.  But given the right opportunity Joe can clearly carry the load for an offense like he did at Utah.  Obviously there will always be a slight concern with Joe that he may decide to return to his retirement home sooner than expected, but running backs generally have shorter shelf lives as it is.  Joe Williams will probably still be around in the late third round of most rookie drafts.  If you want to target a guy with 4.4 wheels with a chance to be a home run for your dynasty team, Joe Williams is your guy.

As always, find me on Twitter @FF_TravisM.  I tend to check it way too often.  Let’s be best friends, or not.  It’s up to you.

Also, here are some fun highlights.  Enjoy!

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