Prior to last Saturday, Chiefs RB Damien Williams was No.14 Overall on my Big Board (+40 ECR) as a locked-in RB1. Suddenly, his fantasy stock is far shakier. That’s because the Chiefs inked Carlos Hyde to a one-year, $2.8 million deal. Indeed, most assume Williams will remain the featured back after his dominant close to 2018. Still, Hyde is plenty talented himself, and could be a bigger thorn in Williams’ side than other experts expect. These question marks drop Williams’ “Usage” score -5 points, and make him a much greater fantasy risk than previously thought.
Yes, I still rank Williams as the top KC back to own. In fact, despite falling 20 spots to No.34 overall, I am still a whopping +16 against the ECR. The guy scored 10 TDs in six weeks, and his 22.5 FPPG as a starter trailed only Todd Gurley. More tellingly, the Chiefs rode him during the highest of stakes, and Williams came through. Unsurprisingly, GM Brett Veach labeled the starting role “Damien’s to lose” at the NFL combine, and we don’t disagree.
Still, Hyde may be talented enough to unseat him. He’s a bruising runner that’ll punish the light boxes Kansas City’s juggernaut will gift him. In fact, the main argument against Hyde is his lack of pass-catching skills. But just two years ago, under Kyle Shanahan, Hyde hauled in 59 balls as a three-down horse. Williams no doubt looks smooth as a pass-catcher, but this reportedly was not always the case; his high school coach joked, “Where did you learn how to catch all of a sudden?” He credits Andy Reid and the Chiefs with tons of practice reps and jugs machine-work.
Who says Hyde can’t blossom under similar guidance?
Ultimately, the fantasy move is to buy both, at least at these current prices. We know this offense will be the most explosive in the league. We know Reid typically prefers a single three-down horse. Whoever ends up being fed here will be a true Top-7 RB1, and the current cost of admission is the 50th (Williams) and 175th (Hyde) pick.
