Denver Broncos RB Javonte Williams made an impressive recovery from a devastating knee injury but was unable to quite return to pre-injury levels. Now another year removed, could Williams take off in 2024? Or will the state of the Broncos’ offense limit his fantasy football upside?
Javonte Williams’ 2024 Fantasy Outlook
Williams is easily one of the toughest players to figure out in all facets of fantasy football. As a rookie, he showcased impressive ability that suggested his upside was very high. In 2022, he tore his ACL. In 2023, we didn’t see anything resembling the same player. Was that because of the injury? Or was Williams never as good as we thought?
Williams averaged 4.5 yards per carry as a rookie. He was top 10 in evaded tackles per touch rate and yards created per touch.
Last season, Williams averaged 3.6 yards per carry. He was 41st in evaded tackles per touch and 36th in yards created per touch. However, 5.5% of his carries went for 15+ yards, the ninth-highest rate in the league.
Williams was also effective as a pass-catcher, commanding an impressive 13% target share. All of this resulted in Williams posting a mere 11.2 fantasy points per game, finishing as the overall RB31.
GROWN MAN run by #Broncos RB Javonte Williams 😤
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) September 24, 2023
Now another year removed from his knee injury, Williams should have every opportunity to get back to the player he looked like before the injury. But will he get the opportunity?
Williams played just 50% of the snaps last year. His opportunity share was 58.3%, 23rd in the league. He split work with Jaleel McLaughlin and Samaje Perine. Will something similar happen again this season? There’s really no way to know this early.
Additionally, we have the matter of the Broncos’ offense. Currently, they don’t have a quarterback. Would they really go into the season with Jarrett Stidham as their QB1? I’m not sure. But either way, things aren’t exactly looking up for the Broncos in 2024.
This very much looks like a rebuilding year. How valuable is the lead running back on a potential bottom-five offense going to be?
Should You Draft Williams in 2024 Best Ball Leagues?
The good news for anyone looking to draft Williams is he’s quite inexpensive. Williams’ ADP is pretty much where he finished last season. So, unless you think he’s going to be meaningfully worse, the downside is minimal, if that.
At the same time, Williams is not worth drafting unless there’s a reasonable chance he can outperform his ADP. It’s great when players are drafted at their floors, but if they have low ceilings, it doesn’t really benefit fantasy managers.
Fortunately, we’ve seen enough from Williams to believe the upside exists. Whether he reaches it is another story. But the mere fact that it’s possible makes Williams someone to at least consider when you start drafting RB3s in Best Ball drafts.
KEEP READING: Best Ball Fantasy RB Rankings 2024
