Damien Williams discusses his role as the Chiefs starting running back

Running back Damien Williams spoke to the media after the conclusion of Week 3 OTAs, stating that he is entering 2019 with the same approach as ever.

Kansas City Chiefs running back Damien Williams spoke to the media following the conclusion of the team’s third week of Organized Team Activities (OTAs). When asked what he could do to do even better than what he showed the Chiefs last year, “[Just going off of] what we were doing last year, just keep pushing forward, really,” Williams said.

Williams had a stellar performance after taking over after the release of Kareem Hunt and after Spencer Ware had battled with injury. He finished the season with 256 yards on 50 carries, and 4 touchdowns. He has never went into a season as the starting running back, and when asked if his approach had changed knowing he was the starter, “Not at all. Nothing changed at all.”

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Williams’ mentality has not changed, and it appears that his focus is on winning football games and building off of what he was able to do last season, even with such a small sample size. “I have a lot of grit and determination. I work hard, I just like to win, for real,” he went on to say, “Each and every year, you know you have to compete. Them bringing in Carlos [Hyde], Darrel [Williams] is here, then they drafted a guy, Darwin [Thompson], and you know you still have to compete, but you want to help each other out.”

He also spoke on the complexity of head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy’s offense, stating that, “they just want to see how far they can push you, and see where you can go.” He said that he wanted to “make the uncomfortable, comfortable,” continuing by saying that he is getting more involved in the offense and doing things out wide, not just in the backfield.

His confidence level skyrocketed after seeing increased carries late in the regular season and in the postseason, and will likely carry that confidence into the 2019 season. As it stands right now, Williams is the starting running back. The Chiefs will likely have four or five running backs make the final 53-man roster in Damien Williams, Carlos Hyde, Darrel Williams, Darwin Thompson, and James Williams. Having a solid rotation of running backs keeps the entire corps healthy, and if one guy goes down, there is always another to help fill his spot.

It will be interesting to see what Williams can do, and hopefully he rides the momentum he garnered last season into having a stellar 2019 campaign.

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