Javonte Williams played high school football at Wallace-Rose Hill High School in Teachy, North Carolina. After rushing for 2,271 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns and graduating as the school’s valedictorian, he accepted his only FBS offer to attend the University of North Carolina. He played sparingly as a true freshman, and split the backfield with Michael Carter in his second year. Playing behind Carter, Williams scampered his way to 933 rushing yards and five touchdowns and outgained Carter as a receiver. In 2020, the duo again split the backfield work. Williams was a dark-horse Heisman candidate, but was out-rushed by Carter. The differentiator was Williams’s 22 total touchdowns and his elite elusiveness; he forced 75 missed tackles. Following a stellar 2021 season, Williams opted to leave UNC and go to the NFL draft.
He boasts an impressive 11.02 Burst Score, but his other workout metrics are lackluster. He also has 4.62 speed, which borders on Pierre Thomas-level size adjusted speed. Thankfully for Williams, his college production and shiftiness led the Broncos front office to take him with the third pick of the second round in the 2021 Draft.
Williams found himself in another backfield split, this time with veteran Melvin Gordon. In tandem, the running back pair were utilized heavily, both finishing in the top-20 in Weighted Opportunities. They had nearly identical Opportunity Shares, routes run, and fantasy points per game. Both backs impressed behind the Broncos stout run-blocking, but Williams' flashes of dominance overshadowed Gordon’s late career resurgence. Williams produced above-average Next Gen Stats on 50-percent of snaps, closing his rookie campaign with 903 rushing yards, 81 broken tackles, and 3.42 Yards Created Per Touch. He broke out in explosive fashion, producing 178 total yards and earning a 10.2-percent Target Share.
Williams started off his second season with a bang, hauling in 11 receptions in Week 1. However, he tore his ACL, LCL, and PCL in Week 4, putting an end to his 2022 season. Williams was utilized as the Broncos’ primary runner prior to the injury, adding utility in the passing game as well. Williams impressed the new coaching staff in Denver, but he had a snap share higher than 60% only four times the entire season.
In 2023, Javonte Williams wasn't very efficient along with the entire Broncos' offense. Furthermore, as he recovered from his ACL injury in 2022, Williams didn't play over 50-percent of the team's snaps until week 7, something he only did six times all season. While he was able to accumulate just over 1000 all-purpose yards, he only finished as a mid-tier RB3 in fantasy leagues. Nonetheless, with Denver's cap limitations he will be the favorite to lead the Broncos in carries once again in 2024.
