Saints: Jamaal Williams receives kudos from national media
The New Orleans Saints could be without running back Alvin Kamara once the season starts due to his legal issues. However, they have insurance. That will come in the form of Jamaal Williams who was signed to a three-year deal back in March. In 2022, Williams led the NFL with 17 rushing touchdowns. It would […]
The New Orleans Saints could be without running back Alvin Kamara once the season starts due to his legal issues. However, they have insurance.
That will come in the form of Jamaal Williams who was signed to a three-year deal back in March. In 2022, Williams led the NFL with 17 rushing touchdowns.
It would take a while for most to name Williams if they were ranking running backs around the league. However, he was named one of the NFL's most underappreciated players earlier this week.
"A huge part of Detroit's second-half surge last season — both from a leadership and production standpoint — Williams is preparing for his first year in New Orleans. He offers plenty of upside to the Saints, particularly in the red zone. Williams does a fantastic job of keeping his legs churning on contact, maximizing his stellar short-area burst. According to computer vision, he ranked fourth in maintaining speed when contacted in the red area last season. With 13 goal-line touchdowns (defined by NGS as inside the 3-yard line), Williams led the NFL in that category by four scores. He also ranked ninth with an average of 4.4 yards per carry between the tackles."-Cynthia Frelund, NFL Network
Williams was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Although he split time with Pro Bowler Aaron Jones and eventually became his backup, Williams ran for 1,985 yards on 500 carries and scored 10 rushing touchdowns during his four years in Green Bay.
The next two years would see Williams play with the Detroit Lions, and once again he shared carries, this time with D'Andre Swift. Williams got the majority of the carries in 2022 and led the league with 17 rushing touchdowns and put up 1,066 yards.
Williams is also a viable option in the passing game. He's racked up 1,191 yards on 160 receptions with eight scores.
New Orleans signing Williams didn't get the major headlines, but adding him to Kamara has the potential for quite the two-headed attack for the Saints in the run game, plus they have rookie Kendre Miller as another option.
