The Lead
With many fantasy football drafts approaching, one question keeps coming up: How productive will Javonte Williams be in 2022? As the second-year running back will share snaps with Melvin Gordon III for a second consecutive season, fantasy managers are trying to determine if they can rely on Williams to lead them to victory.
NBC Sports’ Matthew Berry and PointsBet’s Jay Croucher discussed this question, determining that Williams is one of the top running backs in the league — though they noted that his fantasy value may depend on Gordon.
“The reason I love Javonte Williams is that he has a high floor — I think his worst-case scenario, health permitting, is basically what he did last year, which was fine,” Croucher said. “Then he also has a high ceiling. Because if Melvin Gordon gets hurt, how many guys are more valuable in fantasy than Javonte Williams? Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey — anyone else?”
“He’s in that top-five running back conversation, there’s no question about it,” Berry agreed.
As it stands now, Berry ranked Williams as the RB15 in fantasy.
“If I had to pencil in a projection, I would say 65-35 [percent snap share], Williams to Gordon,” Berry said. “They do want Williams to be the guy, and he’s the more explosive player at this part of their career, but Melvin Gordon last year looked pretty good. … I think [Williams is] a mid-tier RB2, but to your point, he has potentially league-winning upside if something were to happen to Melvin Gordon.”
Croucher pointed to Williams’ explosiveness and ability to break tackles as a massive upside, noting that if given the chance, he can be a league-winning player.
“Javonte Williams led the league in [broken tackles] last season,” Croucher said. “He was basically the most explosive running back in terms of breaking tackles and making guys miss. So he clearly has the talent. If he has the opportunity, then he can win your league.”
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