Jamaal Williams has signed a three-year deal with the New Orleans Saints worth $12 million, with $8 million guaranteed. Williams is coming off a league leading 17-touchdown season on the back of 46 green zone touches (also the most in the league). Can he replicate this type of season in New Orleans?
Williams’ Breakout Season
Williams is moving to his third team since entering the league in 2017, and is also coming off his best season to date. He finished as the RB12 in PPR, largely due to the 13th most valuable workload among RBs.
This is mainly thanks to the number of carries he saw inside the opponent’s 10-yard line. Yet despite the 46 touches inside the 10, Williams still lagged in total high-value touches, ranking below D’Andre Swift in that category, while sporting a 79% TRAP rating.
Williams’ 12 receptions were the fewest of any player to score at least 140 PPR points. Despite leading the league in green zone touches, Williams handled only 40% of Detroit’s high-value touches. This casts some doubt on his ability to sustain these numbers in a new situation. (It would be hard to sustain these numbers even in the same situation.)
