It has now been two weeks that fantasy football managers have been without Los Angeles Rams RB Kyren Williams due to an ankle injury. With some strong performances this season, fantasy managers will be hoping that they will have Williams back this week. Let’s take a look at whether Williams will be playing in Week 9 and the fantasy situation in the Rams’ backfield.
Is Kyren Williams Going To Play in Week 9?
Unfortunately, we already know it will be bad news for fantasy managers who roster Williams as the Rams RB has been ruled out. Williams was placed on the injured reserve ahead of Week 7, which means he must miss a minimum of four games before he will be eligible to return.
Williams’ ankle injury was viewed as a multi-week injury, so the Rams chose to shut him down temporarily.
Entering Week 9, Williams has missed two games so far and will need to miss two more. Week 9 will be the third game he has been absent for, meaning there will be one further game that the Rams RB has to miss. There is further bad news for fantasy managers because the Rams are on a bye in Week 10. That means Williams’ fourth absence won’t come until Week 11.
All of this means that fantasy managers have to accept that the earliest they will have Williams back is in Week 12 when the Rams face the Cardinals. All told, fantasy managers will have been without Williams for five weeks, even if one of them was already planned for.
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The other element to consider is that Williams is not guaranteed to return in Week 12. An IR stint is a minimum of four games, and Williams will have to be medically cleared before returning. Five weeks should be enough time, something that head coach Sean McVay confirmed to the media following Williams being placed on the IR.
“I hope so. It’s still a little bit early, but there was a debate on whether or not we were even going to do that with Kyren [place him on the IR].”
Top Fantasy Options for the Rams Include Darrell Henderson and Royce Freeman
With Williams out, the Rams have leaned on the veteran combination of Darrell Henderson and Royce Freeman.
Henderson was signed to the practice squad ahead of Week 7 but has been elevated for the past two games before being officially signed to the 53-man roster this week. Freeman was elevated from the practice squad in Week 7 to make room for Henderson.
In the past two weeks, Henderson has led the team in carries with 30. He has totaled 92 yards and a touchdown on those carries while adding 59 yards on four receptions. While he hasn’t been the most efficient in the run game, 151 total yards on 34 touches is a solid return for a guy who was a street-free agent two weeks ago.
Freeman has actually been the more efficient of the two in the last two weeks. His 21 rushing attempts have gone for 110 yards and a touchdown, but he is seeing less than two-thirds of the touches Henderson has seen since arriving. It will be intriguing to see if the Rams and McVay decide to continue with their current roles or give Freeman more opportunities to reward his efficiency.
For now, we have to view Henderson as the top option from a fantasy perspective, with Freeman as a deeper league option. Ideally, we will continue to get value out of both, especially with what is expected to be an RB-friendly matchup against the Green Bay Packers.
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