Is Former Notre Dame Star Kyren Williams a Top Fantasy Football Running Back?

Former Notre Dame back Kyren Williams was a fantasy football superstar for the Rams last season. Is he really a top five running back in your draft?

Nov 26, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

So, I’m sitting around with my friends on a Thursday night in an English pub in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago, discussing life, the world in general, and our place on this planet when the conversation turned to the existential.

Is LA Rams running back Kyren Williams REALLY a top fantasy football running back?

The three most boring things in the world: other people’s kids, other people’s pets, and other people’s fantasy football teams.

Nobody cares about any of those three, and if anyone pretends to, it’s because they’re waiting to tell you about their kid/pet/fantasy team. So I won’t bother you with the how and the why Kyren Williams fits into our league, other than to say that, for context, quarterbacks are more valued in what we do.

One of the guys in our league texted us his always-self-serving mock draft and had Williams going in the first round - it’s going to be McCaffrey at the 1 followed by a slew of quarterbacks - and we all had a nice laugh as we watched the second half of a preseason NFL game as if it was the Super Bowl.

But it’s not crazy. No matter what type of fantasy football league you play in, you ALWAYS want a top running back, so I’ll ask again, really …

Is former Notre Dame star Kyren Williams a top fantasy running back?

Whether you take him or not, he's going to be an early pick in your league. It only takes one, and somebody will jump all over him fast.

The 15th back off the board in the 2021 NFL Draft—that’s not too much of a slight considering it was a stunningly decent year for backs, even though Breece Hall was the first one selected starting in the second round—he’ll probably be a top five back gone in your league.

In some way, shape, or form, unless someone is getting funky—we don’t talk about keeper/dynasty leagues here—McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley are 1-2, and Jonathan Taylor, Bijan Robinson, and Breece Hall are in the next batch to follow.

Kyren Williams is probably a top five back, and it isn’t insane to make him third because…

When Los Angeles Ram running backs are healthy, they produce.

Anyone running the ball for the Rams ends up putting up numbers. It’s the system as well as the back - more on this at the end.

Williams ran for 1,144 yards and 12 touchdowns last season and caught 32 passes with three more scores despite missing four games and sitting out another. He was good for a touchdown in nine of the 12 games he played in.

In 2022, the combination of Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson ran for well over 1,000 yards with ten scores, but neither one could stay healthy - you had to get the right back at the right time. Whenever Sony Michel played in 2021 he was good, and the same went for Henderson.

A trio of backs all worked relatively well in 2020, and before that was the Todd Gurley era.

Williams isn’t big, but if he can stay in one piece he’s a solid fantasy get because …

The Ram offense has the parts.

The passing game is still the star - and that's a plus.

Whether it’s Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, or Tutu Atwell, or Tyler Higbee (maybe), or Demarcus Robinson, the Rams have the targets, and Matthew Stafford is still more than serviceable.

The offensive line is good enough. It’s going to be okay in pass protection, but it should be fantastic for the ground attack. So …

.@Kyrenwilliams23 coming by! 💨 pic.twitter.com/8G9Si3euSY

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) July 25, 2024

Of COURSE Kyren Williams is a top fantasy football running back, right?

Uhhhhhhhhhh …

Maybe.

Again, it depends on your league, but personally, I’m never a fan of taking a running back early - take sure-things at other positions and get your running backs later before hitting the free agent market during the season. And there’s a bigger issue when it comes to Williams.

Actually, there are two. First, will the Rams be sharper throwing the ball in the red zone? If Kupp is back to form, or if Nucua becomes even more of a factor inside the 15, that might be just enough to cut into Williams’ production.

The second problem is bigger. Smaller, but bigger - Blake Corum.

Williams is the 1 on the depth chart, and there’s no talk of the former Michigan star changing that. However, Corum got in plenty of work this offseason with Williams hurt with a foot problem, and so far he appears to be good enough to become the top backup - there's your value.

At the very least Corum will be part of a rotation, which means the Rams might start to look more 2020 - three backs finished with over 400 yards and no one got to 700 - than 2023 with their ground game.

And Corum is brilliant around the goal line - you don’t run for 56 touchdowns in three seasons without knowing how to sidestep a few things.

But yeah, take Williams, and then overpay/overdraft to lock up Corum. You want the Ram starting running back on any given week.

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