Trayveon Williams made a bold case to steal Lions' RB3 job vs. Commanders

The top two spots on the Detroit Lions' running back depth chart are spoken for by Jahmyr Gibbs and Isiah Pacheco. After them it's a wide-open battle for what may only be one spot on the 53-man roster, and if it's not one roster spot it'll be two.

Sione Vaki is clearly valued for his special teams contributions, but it'd be nice to see what he can do with more of an offensive role in his third season. Jacob Saylors carried a strong early part of camp into the preseason opener, with 83 yards from scrimmage on 11 touches against the Cincinnati Bengals

Vaki has been ramping back up in practice after missing time when he got poked in the eye and suffered a broken nose. Theoretically he could have, or arguably even should have, played in the second preseason game against the Washington Commanders. He was not seen during pregame warmups, though, and did not suit up.

Trayveon Williams fully seized his first opportunity to steal the Lions' RB3 role

On Aug. 16, the Lions announced some roster moves. In a running back-for-running back swap, an injured Kyle Robichaux was waived and veteran Trayveon Williams was signed.

Williams was certainly in line for a significant amount of playing time against the Commanders, if only as a metaphorical "camp body" to navigate a preseason game with the Lions' top three running backs out.

If nothing else, he had an opportunity to put some good tape out there for other teams once his Lions' tenure comes to an end.

Well, Williams might not be ready to be churned off the Lions' roster just yet. He finished Saturday's game with 36 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, with a long run of 14 yards. He also had a 24-yard catch and run to help set up his one-yard score.

READ MORE: 6 takeaways from Lions' fun preseason win against Commanders

Williams had 38 of his 60 total yards for the game on that scoring drive.

Saylors averaged 5.3 yards per carry against Washington, as he continues to make his case for a roster spot. But Williams did what he had to do to get noticed less than a week after officially becoming a Lion, perhaps with a nod to having fresher legs since he had not been in a training camp anywhere before he was signed.

Depending on what exactly is going on with Vaki, it feels like the Lions are going to end up letting go of a good running back in the coming weeks.

Williams' odds to make the Lions' 53-man roster still seem fairly remote, if only because he was a mid-August addition with the aforementioned camp body scent on him. But his performance on Saturday says it should not be ruled out, and the preseason finale against the Indianapolis Colts may provide a genuine opportunity to make it happen.

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