I was a year too early on the Kyren Williams breakout train in 2022. I talked about him being a late-round sleeper and a guy that we should keep an eye on potentially taking Cam Akers' job. Then it was 2023 when the breakout ended up happening. So, I just saw into my crystal ball a little too early. But Kyren Williams had a fantastic year from a volume standpoint, from an efficiency standpoint, and nobody really saw it coming.
An extremely good score in yards after contact, almost an elite score in tackles avoided per attempt, and his work in the passing game, even though he didn't get a whole lot of volume, he still did a little work with it as well. We know Sean McVay loves to utilize a one-running-back system. Very rarely is he going to send guys out there and take touches away from each other. So, Blake Corum being drafted by LA, I think is a really good team fit, but I really don't think it hurts Kyren Williams.
When Kyren Williams is healthy and on the field, the numbers don't lie. He's getting a majority of the volume, and he's going to be really, really efficient with that volume as well. I think the only question we have to ask ourselves is, does he miss any time? In the games that he does play, looking at a fantasy points per game average, you're looking at a top-five running back if he keeps the efficiency up from what we saw last season.
Now, if you look at the overall score of things, if he does miss a few games, he ends up probably falling back to more of an RB2. So that really is the only concern—how many games he plays. Because if he gives you 17 fully healthy games, he's a top-five running back. If he misses four, maybe five games, he's going to be great in the games that you do have him, but have Blake Corum ready to put out there right away.
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