Packers: Jamaal Williams’ stock is rising in fantasy football

Jamaal Williams is set to become the Green Bay Packers’ starting running back, and this dramatically increases his fantasy football value.

The dreaded “running back-by-committee” term has been used a lot this offseason, but all signs point to Jamaal Williams changing that.

Aaron Jones is injured. He’s also unavailable for the opening two games of the season due to suspension.

Ty Montgomery has been unable to stay healthy throughout his career, and he might be more of a pass-catching back for the Packers this season.

Then there is Williams, who has become the team’s most well-rounded back. He’s a powerful runner, but is also strong in pass protection and can catch passes.

According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, Williams is set to be named the Packers’ starting running back, which could put an end to the timeshare in the backfield many were expecting.

“He’s really poised to have a big year,” Mike McCarthy said, according to Demovsky. “Clearly without playing a game yet, I think we’ll be talking about him at the end of the season as a second-year player that’s made the jump.”

Williams played his best football when Brett Hundley was in at quarterback last season. This is most likely due to the fact he got more carries as the Packers became a more run-focused offense.

But that doesn’t mean he can’t succeed with Aaron Rodgers running the show.

Eddie Lacy had great success in Green Bay’s offense his first two seasons in the league. Like Williams, he was a powerful runner who could run over tacklers. One could argue that Williams is a better receiver than Lacy was, too.

In the final eight games of last season (also the only games he had 10 or more carries), Williams tallied 522 rushing yards, 193 receiving yards and five total touchdowns.

At that pace over a 16-game season, it works out at 1,430 all-purpose yards (1,044 rushing, 386 receiving) and 10 total touchdowns.

If Williams is the featured back in Green Bay’s offense, he will be a player to target in fantasy drafts. And right now he’s slipping under the radar.

Currently, Williams’ average draft position (ADP) is in the sixth round in standard 12-team leagues, according to Fantasy Football Calculator. He is the 31st running back off the board. That’s tremendous value for a potential starting running back in one of the league’s premier offenses.

Now, Aaron Jones could be a factor in all of this.

I’ve written about why Jones is the back to own despite a running back-by-committee approach. The reason being that Jones regularly breaks out big runs, just as he did last year multiple times, and is well-suited to the Packers’ high tempo offense with Rodgers on the field.

All of those points still stand, and Jones is talented enough to earn a featured role this year.

But Jones has struggled to stay healthy over the past year-and-a-half. He missed time last season due to a knee injury, and has missed all of preseason due to a hamstring problem. When you also consider his two-game suspension, it’s hard to have a ton of confidence when selecting him in the eighth round, which is current ADP.

If Jones falls much lower in your draft, he’s a good player to add to your bench considering his potential.

But if Williams does indeed take on a featured role in Green Bay’s offense, similar to Eddie Lacy four years ago, he will be without doubt the Packers running back to own in fantasy this season.