Pro Football Focus analyst sees big fantasy potential for Jamaal Williams

Lions running back Jamaal Williams has a niche of fantasy appeal this year, but a PFF analyst has gone bold with a prediction for him.

Among Detroit Lions players, the fantasy football buzz for 2022 is centered on running back D’Andre Swift with everyone else (Jameson Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown, T.J. Hockenson, DJ Chark) falling in behind him.

One Lion who may fall by the wayside is running back Jamaal Williams. But in the right lights, as a best ball option or among high-end handcuffs as Swift’s immediate backup, he does have value.

Ian Hartitz of Pro Football Focus recently wrapped up his 2022 fantasy team previews with the Lions. In the podcast version, co-host Dwain McFarland got to a bold prediction for Williams.

https://twitter.com/PFF_Fantasy/status/1546860681202483200?s=20&t=Pz6YH2w-X11zHvP_61tsUg

Fantasy Football: Can Jamaal Williams be the James Conner of 2022?

When Swift and Williams played in the same game and the game was close last year, their snap shares were nearly equal. So Williams may have a solid role if the Lions are more competitive more often this year.

As for the comparison to James Conner in 2021, let’s take a look. Conner shared time in the Arizona Cardinals backfield with Chase Edmonds last year. In 15 games, he had 15 rushing touchdowns while adding 37 catches (on 39 targets) for 375 yards and three more touchdowns. His 18 total touchdowns were third-most in the league. He finished as RB5 in fantasy across the board (standard, 0.5-point PPR, PPR).

While Conner has some history of a nose for the end zone (12 rushing touchdowns in 2018), Williams has never had more than four rushing scores in a season and his season-high for total touchdowns is six. Simply, even accounting for Williams never being “the guy” in his career, they are just not the same type of player.

That said, Williams is shaping up as a very nice value in fantasy drafts. He’s the handcuff to Swift, with the possibility of standalone flex-range value (without an injury to Swift) and upside if Swift were to go down. According to Fantasy Football Calculator, in 12-team PPR, his ADP is RB50 (pick 11.08) right now.

Williams is a fine choice to fill out the end part of running back depth chart on a fantasy roster in leagues with at least 12 teams. But a lot would have to come together for him to do what Conner did in 2021, or get close, especially in the touchdown column.

So I can’t get there for Williams as the potential 2022 version of Conner. But credit to McFarland for going bold.