The 2022 NFL Draft will be a great event for teams to start building for their future. Here is the Kyren Williams 2022 NFL Draft Profile.
Position: Running Back
Size: 5-foot-9, 195 pounds
Class: Junior
2021 stats: 995 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, 4.9 yards per carry, 42 receptions, 359 receiving yards, 3 touchdown catches
Williams was a lead running back for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish the last two seasons. He is now headed to the next level.
Out of St. Louis, Williams was a four-star high school prospect who decided to stay relatively close to home at Notre Dame. He played sparingly as a freshman, rushing for 26 yards on four carries. Williams then became the lead back in 2020 with 1,125 rushing yards, 313 receiving yards and 14 total touchdowns. The Fighting Irish were able to make the College Football Playoff that season. In 2021, Williams was one of the few returning starters on offense. He totaled 995 rushing yards, 359 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. Notre Dame was able to make the Fiesta Bowl, but Williams opted out of the bowl game.
Following the regular season, Williams declared for the NFL Draft. He is currently a projected day two pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Kyren Williams #23
Williams is incredibly shifty and elusive. He is agile and can make defenders miss. Williams has a wide variety of moves including a spin and a jump cut. His ability to avoid initial contact helps him pick up yards to start a play. It also helps him maximize runs, as he is able to evade defenders in the open field with his moves as well.
He is one of the more polished receivers in this class as well. Williams showed good hands and the ability to run after the catch well. He ran a decent amount of routes, although he could add more to his route tree. Notre Dame even occasionally lined him up at receiver. He’ll need to continue working on this to become an elite threat out of the backfield, but he has a solid base to grow from.
His role on a team might start as a third-down back. Not only is he a polished receiver, but Williams has proven himself in pass protection. Even though he is smaller, Williams shows good recognition of where pressure is coming from and can square up defenders trying to pressure the quarterback.
Williams is one of the smaller running backs in the class. He is just 5-foot-9 and 198 pounds. While that does have some advantages, like a lower center of gravity and being harder to find behind the line of scrimmage, he won’t have a lot of power. Teams may take him out near the goal line for a bigger back. There will also be some durability concerns for Williams.
There are times where Williams’ vision could be better. He can hit holes when things go well, but sometimes when things aren’t perfect, he tries to bounce runs outside when it may have been better to cut it upfield. His vision improves at the second and third levels of a defense, but needs to process a little better directly after getting the football.
Ball security was also an issue for Williams. In his two seasons as the primary running back for the Fighting Irish, he had eight fumbles. He needs to get two hands over the ball when running through traffic. This is a very correctable weakness with some time and effort.
Projected Draft Range: Second Round Pick-Third Round Pick
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