Jamaal Williams is a running back for the Detroit Lions. He committed to BYU and instantly found success on the field where in his freshman season he scored twelve rushing touchdowns. He only scored seven touchdowns his sophomore season, but he increased his rushing yardage total, rushing for over 1,200 yards. His junior season was cut short due to a knee injury, but his college stats would bounce back in a major way his senior season, rushing for 1,375 yards, and twelve touchdowns. He holds the BYU record for most rushing yards in a career with 3,901.
Jamaal Williams was drafted in the fourth round by the Green Bay Packers, who actually drafted future teammate and current starting running back Aaron Jones in the fifth round right after selecting Williams. He never became the outright starter for the team as Aaron Jones took control of the backfield and commanded the majority of the snaps.
Jamaal Williams would sign a contract in the 2021 offseason with the Detroit Lions, where DeAndre Swift controls most of the backfield work. His only season in Detroit was the first one where he had less than 100 routes run. His target share has been under 9% each year in his career as well. His first season he had four drops, but in the following four years after that first season, he has had a combined four drops.
One of his most productive years was in 2020 where he finished 34th with 346 yards created for the season. While his metrics are not outstanding (4.59 40 time and 11.78 Agility Score) he has put together decent games when he needs to step in as the primary running back whenever the starter is out.
Looking at his weekly fantasy rankings the last five seasons, he has seven top-10 finishes. While he has not matched the numbers that he put up at BYU, he has proven himself to be a steady contributor to his team as a back-up and whenever the starting running back is down, he can be a strong producer of fantasy points. This history of production when filling in for a starter has boosted his fantasy ADP up to pick 119.8, and Swift who is starting in front of him, has yet to complete a full season without injury so his ADP will likely remain close to the same area.
