Javonte Williams Is The Most Underrated Bell Cow RB In Fantasy Football
Ian Hartitz examines the Dallas Cowboys RB room, and how Javonte Williams is underestimated across fantasy football.
Can he do it again? Javonte Williams surprised everyone with a season that few outside (and inside) Dallas believed was possible. Now comes his chance at an encore performance as a main cog in one of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL. Ian Hartitz breaks it down as part of his Dallas Cowboys Team Preview.
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Is the public underestimating a boom season from Javonte Williams?
- RB1: Javonte Williams (RB15 in Fantasy Life ranks)
- RB2: Jaydon Blue (RB72)
- RB3: Malik Davis (RB83)
- RB4: Phil Mafah
It was easy to be wary of Williams entering 2025. Sure, there wasn't a ton of competition, but many metrics painted the ex-Bronco as one of the league's worst RBs in two seasons following his devastating 2022 knee injury. If Williams couldn't get anything going in a solid Denver offense, why would things be that different in Dallas?
Well … they were! Williams racked up 1,338 total yards and 13 scores as THE running back, y'all, of the league's seventh-ranked scoring offense. He posted rather elite marks in rushing success rate (56.3%, 4th), yards per carry (4.8, tied for 10th), and tackles avoided per carry (21.4%, 7th), largely looking fresher than ever along the way. Add it all together, and Williams was the RB12 in PPR points per game!
Fast forward to this season … and it sure looks like Williams is again entering the sort of situation very much capable of enabling another RB1-worthy campaign!
- Dallas showed its love to Williams by signing him to a three-year, $24M extension with $16M guaranteed.
- This Cowboys offense returns all 11 starters from last season. Would it surprise anyone if they finish as the No. 1-ranked scoring group in the league?
- The team made literally zero meaningful additions to the backfield: Malik Davis and Jaydon Blue are both projected to (again) serve as Williams' backups.
- Our fantasy projections see Williams racking up the 13th-most touches (295) and 14th-most half-PPR points (219.1) among all RBs.
Sure, things were a bit more productive in Weeks 1-9 (17.3 PPR points per game, RB9) than Weeks 10-17 (12.4, RB21), but hell, that latter mark still bested guys like Breece Hall, Rico Dowdle, Josh Jacobs, Kenneth Walker and Quinshon Judkins, among others.
At the end of the day: Williams really doesn't have a red flag to speak of in terms of his age (26), offensive environment or workload categories. Nobody is mistaking him as a top-5, real-life talent at the position, but his aforementioned efficiency numbers were undeniably solid last year, and guess what: Good-not-great ability can still produce ELITE fantasy numbers in an offense capable of producing all sorts of goal-line volume—just like the Cowboys.
Also note: Three of the four Fantasy Life Rankers have Blue ahead of Davis—but not this guy, and I don't think it should even be a conversation. After all, Blue was quite literally a healthy scratch from Weeks 9-17 after fumbling against the Broncos … leading to Davis working as Williams' direct backup down the stretch. Credit to the 27-year-old veteran for easily besting Blue when it came to season-long rushing efficiency (4.8 yards per carry vs. 3.4), and the lack of turnover on the offensive staff and in the running back room has me wondering why anyone would assume a drastic change in the pecking order. Hey, maybe Blue gets his head straight and magically becomes way better at football … but that seems like a pretty big leap to make after what we saw in 2025. Davis is my preferred handcuff, although a committee of some shape or size would be likely, and Mafah could be more of a factor after missing most of last season due to a severe shoulder injury.
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