Kyren Williams profile: Why the Los Angeles Rams drafted the running back in the 2022 NFL Draft
The Los Angeles Rams picked Kyren Williams with the 164th pick of the 2022 NFL draft.
A former four-star wide receiver recruit, after barely seeing the field as a freshman, Williams became the feature back for the Irish in 2020, combining for 1,438 yards and 14 touchdowns on 211 carries, plus 35 receptions, during their run to the College Football Playoff. Last season, he recorded 84 scrimmage yards less, and his averages went down slightly, but he reached the end-zone three extra times, while his team still made it to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Kyren Williams' strengths:
Williams is an excellent zone-runner, who can dip and widen off the inside foot to continue working frontside or hit the cutback when a seam opens up. Along with that, he will punish poor backside discipline routinely, as he sees somebody shifted too far inside and bends all the way across the grain. Williams has the sudden movement skills to make people miss in the backfield and turn a loss into a nice gain. He showcases the reactive athleticism to translate what he sees to his legs, and he clearly doesn’t panic with bodies screaming by. He can make something out of nothing, where he is dead to rights with multiple defenders around him, but he gets away from them with his sudden bursts. He will absolutely test your discipline on run fits. Watching him get out of harm’s way on draws, as defenders are guided off track is beautiful to watch.
Watching him operate navigate through traffic, Williams gets really low in his cuts and can actually completely stop and start, to somewhat create a lane for himself, while being very well-schooled in switching hands with the ball. Plus, when he gets in the open, he can actually stop on a dime, to make defenders miss, who come in too eager. While he may not have break-away speed and will never time particularly well, he did pull away from defensive backs on multiple occasions and Clemson’s talented defense learned that, first hand, going for about a 70-yard TD just a few plays into that big 2020 regular season matchup. However, Williams also runs with a certain physicality that you don’t get out of many guys in his weight class. He initiates contact with good pad-level and pulls through for extra yardage consistently – and he also likes to deliver a wicked straight-arm.
This young man offers an intriguing skill-set as a receiver, with the quick twitch to separation on angle, out and pivot routes. He consistently catches the ball with his fingertips away from his body, he adjusts to off-target throws supernaturally and bailed out his quarterback(s) on multiple occasions. Williams does a tremendous job of setting the table on screen plays, stepping up with his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage, before working outside and then quickly getting to his second gear once he secures the catch. He was motioned out and used in the patterns quite a bit for the Irish. Along with that, this is one of the better younger pass-protecting backs. He shows an excellent ability to keep his head on a swivel, ID blitzes and pick up the biggest threat in protection. Then, he squares up his man immensely effectively, strikes upward to take off the initial steam and maintains active feet. And he actually takes out some guys with cut-blocks, when necessary.
Kyren Williams' weaknesses:
The two things that Kyren lacks is great size or explosiveness. So with how the NFL is getting faster every year, he might not be able to provide big plays consistently, as you already saw him get tripped up from behind on several occasions when playing top-tier competition. And running the slowest 40 of any RB at the combine (4.65) certainly doesn’t help. While Williams can avoid straight wraps and slide forward for a couple of extra yards, you barely see him actually break tackles, in part, because he’s easier to wrap around, due to not having the girthy lower body the other top backs in this class do. There’s quite a few runs for minus two yards for him, because he can drive forward to the line of scrimmage. You can argue the description “jack of all trades, master of none” applies here with Williams. And he was surprisingly subbed off a lot more last season for the light-footed Chris Tyree, particularly on longer down.
Conclusion on Kyren Williams:
You’d like him to be a little bit bigger. You’d like to see a little more explosion. I don’t know if he’s elite at anything in this draft necessarily, but Williams does pretty much everything well. He can play all three downs effectively, even if he may end up sharing more touches than the top three names. What you really like about him is that you can trust him in passing situations from day one and he gives you the ability to win cleanly in one-on-one tackling spots. I understand that some people may drop him way down the board after his showing at the combine, because he may not meet certain cut-offs, but the kid can absolutely play.
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