The description of Damien Williams’ job description for the Kansas City Chiefs has changed considerably from the starter’s votes he had.
It wasn’t that long ago that the two leaders of the Kansas City Chiefs offense were enamored with running back Damien Williams. It began with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who as former running backs coach, would have known Williams quite well. In remarks to reporters this offseason, Bieniemy stated that there was no official competition. Williams was the starting running back.
Fast forward several days and head coach Andy Reid decides to say the exact same thing to reporters. Instead of dismissing the idea of someone claiming a starting role before training camp, Reid sided with Bieniemy and presented a united front when it came to the production of Williams.
Then came a hamstring injury for Williams, one that unexpectedly took him out of camp for a week. Reid wasn’t too pleased with the time away from training camp practice. He was also enthused by what he saw from Carlos Hyde and others on the roster behind (or now beside) Damien Williams.
In a recent interview with SiriusXM NFL radio, Reid spoke about Patrick Mahomes’ leadership style and a new approach from what he said before at running back.
“I did a little bit of that when I was in Philadelphia—the running back by committee kind of deal—and we had some success with it. We’ll do that here. We ended up drafting a kid there also and then the other Williams isn’t bad either.
“So we’ve got a couple Williamses and then Carlos and then a new little guy who runs around. We’ve got a good nucleus of players that I think we’re going to be good at that spot. They all have their strengths and we’ll try to exploit their strengths there.”
For fantasy football players, it creates a bit of a condundrum because it’s nearly impossible to predict what anyone will do in a committee approach. Will Damien put up the sort of numbers expected by getting the majority of carries? Will Hyde supplant him enough to warrant fantasy ownership of his own? What about the “little guy” Reid keeps referring to? Could Darwin Thompson spoil all outcomes.
For non-fantasy players it doesn’t matter. Whoever Coach Reid wants to play should be just fine in a loaded offense filled with space for someone out of the backfield.