It was reported that Damien Williams agreed to a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears in NFL Free Agency, after opting out of last season. The last time we saw Williams on the field, he was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV.
Some think he may have been stripped from a Super Bowl MVP award (Patrick Mahomes won the award instead). He carried the ball 17 times for 104 yards. Williams also caught four passes for 29 yards and scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown.
Damien Williams Career
In his two seasons with Kansas City, Williams produced 754 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns, 53 receptions, 373 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. The 28-year-old will bring a skill set that includes both above average rushing and receiving abilities to the Bears offense.
Chicago’s head coach, Matt Nagy, was the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs the season before Williams joined the team. The expectation is that Williams will familiarize himself nicely with Nagy’s offense, since Nagy’s current offensive coordinator is Bill Lazor, Williams’ former OC in Miami.
In his six-year career, Williams has only started 13-of-85 regular season games he has played in. Although he has served most of his career as a backup, the talented back owns a 4.2 rushing yards per attempt average throughout his career. In Kansas City alone, he averaged about 4.7 yards per carry. He’s also caught at least 20 passes in each of his six seasons in the league, while catching about 78.4 percent of the passes thrown his way. To put things in perspective, Christian McCaffrey has caught about 80.4 percent of the passes thrown his way throughout his impressive career.
Williams’ Future Role With the Bears
Williams will join a very talented running back room that already features David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen. Montgomery is coming off a career year in just his second season in the league. He rushed for 1,070 yards and eight touchdowns on 247 carries. Montgomery also caught 54 passes for 438 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The 23-year-old will obviously serve as the primary back ahead of Williams, but Williams should get a lot of work as the RB2 in Chicago’s offense.
The Bears also have Cohen coming back from a torn ACL he suffered last season. The speedy back should still serve his regular role of playing as a “gadget back” in Nagy’s offense. He’s an effective yards-after-the-catch receiver who can line up in the backfield or in the slot on any down.
Now that Williams will suit up for the Bears, expect Montgomery’s targets out of the backfield to decline tremendously. Cohen should get the bulk of targets/receptions out of the backfield, Montgomery should get the bulk of carries and Williams should get a little taste of both carries and targets. A crew of Montgomery, Cohen and Williams should be effective and difficult for other defenses to stop this season.
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