Deep Dynasty Stashes: Trayveon Williams

Photo: USA Today Sports

This is the fourth edition of this summer series. Other players covered:

Deep Dynasty Stashes: Malik Davis
Deep Dynasty Stashes: Nyheim Hines
Deep Dynasty Stashes: Jeremy Ruckert
Deep Dynasty Stashes: Jeff Wilson

In his final college season, Trayveon Williams' 1,760 rushing yards ranked third nationally. You have likely heard of the other guys in the top four: Jonathan Taylor, Darrell Henderson, and Travis Etienne. That total is the seventh most in SEC history, between Bo Jackson's 1,786 and Herschel Walker's 1,752. After his college career, William's 3,379 career yards ranked third on Texas A&M's school record books. And Williams accomplished that in just three years in school.

He joined a crowded Bengals backfield as a rookie, with Joe Mixon entrenched as a starter and Gio Bernard a long-time contributor. The team would add to that stable during the season with Samaje Perine's addition. Williams spent most of his first four seasons watching from the sidelines, a Week 17 game against Baltimore where he gained 74 yards on just four rushes representing the bulk of his career statistics. But Williams's path is similar to that of Perine's.

Perine left Oklahoma in 2016 as the school's all-time leading rusher, with 4,122, despite playing just three seasons. He saw early success as a rookie, rushing for 603 yards with Washington. Perine struggled the next two seasons, bouncing from Washington to Miami to Cincinnati. He spent the 2020 season as the third back on the Bengals, behind Mixon and Bernard. That season turned into a lost year for the franchise following Joe Burrow's season-ending injury in Week 11 and Mixon dealing with questions around a foot injury. But Bernard's departure following that year gave him an opportunity where he grew comfortable as Mixon's primary backup, eventually seeing 51 targets in 2022 as a passing game compliment.

Throughout his time as coach, Zac Taylor has leaned on veterans in the backfield. After spending four seasons with the team, Williams looks to be getting a shot.

The Resume

Williams was a 247 composite 4-star recruit in high school; he was the number eight all-purpose back in the 2016 recruiting class. Other recruits in this class include Miles Sanders, Alexander Mattison, and David Montgomery. He was an immediate impact freshman, rushing for 1,057 on an A&M team that included NFL receivers Christian Kirk and Josh Reynolds. That impact carried through his college career before becoming a Sixth-round pick in 2019.

Since then, there has been little opportunity. As mentioned, he was a young back on a team filled with veterans early, then health has allowed Mixon and Perine to take 95% of the running back rush attempts the last two seasons.

But Williams is the second most experienced back on the Bengals and has had four seasons to learn the offense. The Bengals like him; running backs coach Justin Hill on Williams this spring: "He's got the confidence of everybody on the staff. We know what he's going to do when he gets his opportunity. It's just a matter of having those opportunities."