Javonte Williams Fantasy Football Week 0 Scouting Report

Javonte Williams
RB
, Denver Broncos

Age: 24
Weight: 220 lbs
Height: 5' 10"

ADP: 89
Depth Chart Ranking: 1

Pts	RuYds	RuTD	Rec	RecYds
132	774	3	47	228

Full Season Projection

Full Season Projection
Dfs Projection

Week 1
DEN
@
-

Unlock our Projections

View full RB Projections

Salary: $
Week 1 Projection: -
Ownership: -

Salary: $
Week 1 Projection: -
Ownership: -

Salary: $
Week 1 Projection: -
Ownership: -

Left-scroll
middle-scroll
Right-scroll

Scouting report

by Spencer Babbitt

· Aug 01, 2023 · 7:43 PM EDT

DEN RB Javonte Williams - 2023 Fantasy Football Outlook

Fantasy Upside
Coming off an impressive rookie season where he accumulated over 1,200 total yards and finished as a fantasy RB2 in terms of points per game, Javonte Williams suffered an abrupt and brutal end to his sophomore season when he tore his ACL, MCL, and LCL in Week 4 of the 2022 season. To that point in the year, Williams was on pace for another solid season working as part of a committee and managed to catch 16 balls in his extremely limited action. It's difficult to extract much from Williams' stats last year given the small sample, but he has played enough in the NFL for us to know that he is an elusive runner who is also a more-than-capable pass catcher out of the backfield. Williams' recovery is one of the biggest injury storylines in fantasy coming into the season, but we did get great news to lead off training camp when he avoided being placed on the PUP list and he has been participating in practice like normal so far. If Williams is anything close to 100% heading into Week 1, he will have a very interesting role as the clear top talent in the Denver backfield.

Fantasy Downside
The injury Williams suffered last season should not be underestimated. There is a large body of data suggesting that players returning from multiple-ligament tears do not return to their true form until being two years removed from the injury. Williams will not even be one whole calendar year removed from his injury for Week 1, which is a big reason why many were surprised when he managed to avoid the PUP list to start training camp. Williams is a talented player, but drafting him comes with major question marks regarding the stability of his knee and his workload early in the season. The Broncos signed Samaje Perine to work alongside Williams in the passing game, and he will likely claim significant snaps and targets in Sean Payton's new offense. A healthy Williams should be the lead back for the Broncos, but that is far from guaranteed given last season's injury.

2023 Bottom Line
Williams is one of the more polarizing players for fantasy drafters heading into the 2023 season and has a huge range of potential outcomes this year. He has the talent and potential role to vastly outperform his ADP, but he also could become nothing more than a weekly headache for those managers who choose to rely on him as a weekly starter. For drafts, he is best thought of as a high-risk, high-reward RB3.

by Spencer Babbitt

· Sep 27, 2022 · 6:15 PM EDT

DEN RB Javonte Williams - Week 4 Fantasy Football Outlook

Week 4 at Las Vegas Raiders
Javonte Williams' production has dropped off after a promising Week 1. While Williams' rushing workload has ramped up over the first few weeks of the season, his pass game involvement has dwindled with four receptions and 12 receiving yards in the last two games combined. Making matters worse, it was Melvin Gordon who got the short rushing touchdown to win the game against the 49ers late Sunday. While Williams is a great talent and his overall usage remains strong, the Broncos offense has generally struggled to do much of anything this season, resulting in a multitude of inefficient and low-value touches. The Raiders do not present an imposing matchup for Williams in Week 4, but he will continue to struggle for consistency if the Denver offense fails to right the ship and Melvin Gordon is a thorn in his side. Keep Williams in your lineup as a RB2 against the Raiders in Week 4 and hope things improve from here.

by Spencer Babbitt

· Sep 22, 2022 · 7:21 PM EDT

DEN RB Javonte Williams - Week 3 Fantasy Football Outlook

Week 3 vs. San Francisco 49ers
Javonte Williams has established himself as the clear lead back for the Broncos through two weeks. Williams is tied for the team lead with 22 carries through the first two weeks of the season, but the passing game is where he is dominating. Williams is actually second on the team in targets with 16, behind only Courtland Sutton's 18. While Williams is likely to continue to split early-down work with Melvin Gordon, Williams' domination of the passing game gives him a solid floor to go along with a great ceiling if the Broncos can figure out their early-season offensive woes. Week 3 presents a tough matchup with the 49ers in town, but Williams' versatile role and ability to play on all three downs means he can be started regardless of opponent. The Broncos need to get on the right track offensively, but Williams has been a bright spot so far and looks like a strong RB2 play in Week 3.

by Spencer Babbitt

· Sep 14, 2022 · 11:11 AM EDT

DEN RB Javonte Williams - Week 2 Fantasy Football Outlook

Week 2 vs. Houston Texans
Javonte Williams only logged seven carries for 43 yards (6.1 YPC) in Week 1 against the Seahawks, but fantasy managers have to be excited about his season moving forward in light of his whopping 12 (!!!) targets, 11 (!!!) receptions, and 65 yards through the air. Williams was clearly one of Russell Wilson's favorite targets in Week 1 as he consistently checked down to the second-year RB throughout the game. Melvin Gordon still beat out Williams for carries with 12, but Williams played nine more snaps, looked like the much more explosive back with his touches, and is the clear leader for passing game work. Williams' fumble at the goal line was a heartbreaker and would normally cause concern for his future short-yardage workload, but Gordon notched his own brutal fumble at the goal line to top off a banner day for Denver RBs in scoring situations. Williams will continue to share work with Gordon barring an unforeseen change in philosophy from Nathaniel Hackett, but his natural tackle-breaking ability and domination of passing game work puts him on the RB1 borderline.

by Spencer Babbitt

· Sep 08, 2022 · 5:09 PM EDT

DEN RB Javonte Williams - Week 1 Fantasy Football Outlook

Week 1 at Seattle Seahawks
Sophomore RB Javonte Williams enters 2022 with a wide range of outcomes. Fantasy projections on Williams range from an elite, league-winning RB1 to a borderline RB2 locked in a 50-50 timeshare depending on how the workload ends up getting split with veteran Melvin Gordon. What we do know is Williams is a talented runner, having posted elite elusiveness metrics both in college and as a rookie in the NFL. We also know his offensive environment is taking a huge step in the right direction this season with Russell Wilson in town to replace Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock at QB. The combination of talent and situation give Williams a huge ceiling if he does get the majority of the RB workload this season. The Broncos' RB usage in Week 1 will be one of the biggest storylines in all of fantasy, but for now Williams looks like a good RB2 play against a mediocre Seattle defense.

by Spencer Babbitt

· Jul 08, 2022 · 3:46 PM EDT

DEN RB Javonte Williams - 2022 Fantasy Football Outlook

2022 Fantasy Upside
Javonte Williams is coming off an impressive rookie season where he racked up 246 total touches (203 carries and 43 receptions), 1,216 total yards, and seven total touchdowns while splitting the workload with veteran Melvin Gordon. Gordon is back in 2022, but there is reason to believe Williams will seize control of the Denver backfield in time. To start, Williams is a natural tackle-breaker. He recorded 75 broken tackles as a college senior, and that skill translated to the NFL immediately as Williams led the league in broken tackles per carry as a rookie and finished ninth in yards after contact per carry. Perhaps most important to his fantasy projections, Williams is a competent pass catcher and should maintain most of that work even with Gordon back to split carries again this season. This aspect of Williams' game will be of great interest to fantasy managers with Russell Wilson in town, who should bring a substantial boost to the Broncos' passing game and overall efficiency as an offense. Williams is an intriguing RB2 as things currently stand, but a Gordon injury would instantly vault him into elite RB1 territory given his elusiveness and offensive environment.

2022 Fantasy Downside
Williams' downside stems from the split workload he is set to receive again in 2022 with Gordon re-signing in Denver. The Broncos' rushing attack was effective last season splitting work between the two backs, and it would appear unlikely they will want to tamper with that approach this year. As exciting as Williams is, Gordon received 231 touches out of this backfield last year and managed 10 total touchdowns with solid efficiency metrics, meaning he should still be a big part of the offensive picture this season barring injury. With the backfield being split two ways, Williams will have a difficult time returning RB1 value simply due to a lack of workhorse-level volume.

2022 Bottom Line
Williams is an exciting player to draft because he's already shown himself to be productive and is at an age where he very likely still has untapped upside. If Gordon wasn't in the picture, we would be talking about Williams as an elite RB1 and first-round fantasy pick. With the split workload, Williams still makes for an intriguing RB2 with league-winning upside in the event Gordon misses time due to injury.

by Amr Gabr

· Dec 31, 2021 · 11:43 AM EST

DEN RB Javonte Williams - Week 17 Fantasy Football Outlook

Week 16 at Chargers

If you're still reading this, I appreciate you for a great season and it most likely means you're in the championship, so congrats to you on making it this far.

Javonte Williams and the Denver Broncos rushing attack did not fare well last week. Williams salvaged his day with a rushing touchdown, but besides that, he couldn't do much on the ground. Williams rushed for twenty yards on nine touches, a season-low. This week he gets a much easier matchup, taking on a Los Angeles Chargers team that is reeling defensively right now. In their last five games, they are giving up an average of about 130 rushing yards per game. This week should be easier sledding for Williams and he finds himself squarely in the top 20 running back conversation in the final week of the fantasy season.