Kyren Williams has been in the football psychosphere this week
In the span of one week, ESPN has reported that NFL Executives think Kyren Williams isn’t a top-15 running back, only to then have NFL.com list Williams as a top-100 player.
Kyren Williams is a tricky player to rate because at times he’s incredible, other times he’s average, and then every now again he’s costly to the Los Angeles Rams and their chances at winning a football game.
If Williams reads my articles (he doesn’t) then he may get the sense that I doubt him as a player, and I did recently write about Williams not being the top RB in the NFC West, but it’s not as much about Williams as it is about my thinking that there are other running backs in the league that are better at the position overall, and because of that, I can’t help but question if the Rams can find a better RB?
Can the Rams do better at the RB position? Maybe, but as frustrating as Williams’s fumbles or his lack of big play history can be, he’s been a top player in the NFL the past two seasons. And if he increases his explosiveness going into this campaign, then he may very well work his way up the RB rankings fast.
In the words of the great Joni Mitchell, “You don’t know what you got til it’s gone”, and to quote the poet Kanye West, “I know I got it, I don’t know what ya’ll on”.
Sean McVay knows what he has, Williams is a beast when he’s at his best, and the Rams are fortunate to have found such a value in the fifth round of the NFL Draft only a few years ago. Has there been a better value at the running back position than Williams over the past few seasons? Fair question.
Forget the value though, is Kyren Williams one of the best players in the league? NFL.com sure thinks so, and so do a number of his peers, that’s why he made the list at number 85 in NFL’s the top-100 players going into 2025 (granted, he was number 78 going into the 2024 season).
Sometimes, the best compliment is to be recognized by those who do what you do, and Williams is being recognized by the very players he’s faces off against on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and the occasional Friday and Saturday. That’s gotta count for something.
Will this be Williams’s last ride with the Rams? Time will tell. In the meantime, Williams has a chance to once again solidify himself as a top player in the league, and that’s not a bad spot to be in in July.