Jamaal Williams Starts as Depth Chart No. 1 RB

NFL Twitter was all over the release of the first depth charts. It’s a little excessive in my mind because there’s so much that can happen in the next few weeks. Injuries are going be a thing. Sometimes, players fall apart as they actually play games. All of that said, Jamaal Williams is the leading candidate for the Packers running back position at the moment. Williams will be the RB1 to start the preseason which makes some sense with Ty Montgomery coming back from injury last season and Aaron Jones hasn’t been practicing much. Can Williams keep it up throughout the training camp?
It’s hard to look at Williams’ stats last season for the primary reason of almost all of his stats were complied when Brett Hundley had the reigns at quarterback. We have no idea what Williams’ stats may look like with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. He only averaged 3.6 yards which is not ideal by any means, but teams were filling up in the box during his time at running back. He had his breakout game against Pittsburgh then Tampa Bay where he went off for 5.1 per carry that game. Williams should get a better look with Rodgers at quarterback.
The other thing you have to like is Williams catches the ball out of the backfield. That’s the wonderful thing about all of the Packers running backs are they have pass-catchers. Jones and Montgomery can do it too. Packers have taken notice as Rodgers threw more drop offs to his running backs during Training Camp this season. Williams averaged 10.5 yards receiving last season, and he could be very effective in that role as well.
We’ll see if Jones and Montgomery makes a push at Williams. I still think Jones might be the better overall running back, but at this point, it’s Williams. He’s been at practice every day and showed enough to the Packers coaching staff to be the leader of the rushing attack.
Charlie.