Joe Williams didn’t make much of an impact as a rookie. But last year was last year, and things can change.
Matt Maiocco has covered the 49ers for over 20 years, and he’s of the school of thought Williams could be a vastly improved running back in his second year.
The 49ers traded up to select Williams last year, recall, and he showed some explosiveness in the preseason. I remember seeing him in their opener at Kansas City and wondering if he was going to be their best back. He carried 7 times for 60 yards – definitely has some explosiveness.
But Williams later fizzled, and ended up spending the entire season on injured reserve. He had an ankle injury, but the 49ers might also have felt he simply wasn’t ready.
But he might be ready now. A feel-good story about Maiocco went by a few months ago, and now he seems to be performing well at training camp. He’s more confident and knows what he’s doing.
“At running back, you cannot think,” said Kyle Shanahan in an article posted at NBC Sports Bay Area.. “You have to hit it and not hesitate. And Joe did that in OTAs, and he’s been doing it in these three practices. It was real neat to get the pads on today. He got a few opportunities, and he didn’t flinch. He hit it and had some pretty good results for it.”
The 49ers signed Jerick McKinnon, and I believe he’ll catch plenty of passes. I like McKinnon in a PPR format. But he’s never been able to get over the hump as a runner. When Dalvin Cook got hurt last year, the Vikings tried to go with a tandem of McKinnon and Latavius Murray, but in the second half of the season, McKinnon fizzled into being more of a third-down. A very good chance that the 49ers will need some other back to handle a lot of their running work – I expect a tag-team backfield.
The 49ers also have Matt Breida, who played well as their No. 2 back last year. He got be that guy. I also saw a rah-rah piece on Breida go by recently. But Williams is also in that mix.
I expect that either Breida or Williams will significantly outperform where they’re selected in fantasy drafts this year.
“I think Joe has a lot of ability,” Shanahan says. “And it’s very apparent he’s had a different mindset this year than he did last year. Sometimes, that just takes time. Everybody handles it differently. It took Joe a little bit, mentality-wise.”
—Ian Allan