Trayveon Williams

Even though Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan described Williams as an "ascending player," Williams has seen a descending number of offensive snaps and touches over the course of his career, culminating in only six carries and two catches last season, despite Joe Mixon missing three games. Samaje Perine is now in Denver, but Mixon remains, at least for now, and the Bengals added Chase Brown to the backfield and Charlie Jones as a potential returner in the draft. It might take two injuries for Williams to climb the Bengals' ladder into fantasy relevance.

Williams spent most of 2021 on the Bengals' practice squad or was a healthy inactive, dressing for only five games. Though the Bengals didn't bring in any backs from the draft, Williams is at risk of getting cut from the active roster again without an injury to their top-three.

The sixth round seems to be the Bengals' sweet spot to try to find depth running backs. They landed Williams there in 2019, and drafted Chris Evans in the sixth round this year. Williams didn't have any carries in his rookie season, and for a while it didn't look as if he'd get any run again in 2020. But then Joe Mixon got hurt against the Colts in Week 6, bumping up Williams a peg, and he saw occasional action afterward, finishing with 26 carries for 157 yards. That the Bengals saw fit to draft Evans puts Williams' job in jeopardy.

Williams beat out Samaje Perine for the Bengals' third running back job, but ended up with the same number of carries for the team - zero. After missing two games with a foot injury and being a healthy scratch in three others, Williams suited up the final 11 games but was essentially limited to special teams, getting only eight offensive snaps with no carries or targets. He's still in line to be third on the depth chart after the Bengals didn't add to their running back corps in the draft. But he'll have to beat out Rodney Anderson, who missed 2019 with an injury, and Perine again, and only then will it matter if Joe Mixon holds out or gets hurt.

Williams is a good illustration of the gulf between collegiate performance and professional scouting. He was a steady performer at Texas A&M, rushing for 1,760 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2018, averaging 6.5 yards per carry. He also was active in the passing game, catching 27 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown, and got good marks for his willingness to pass protect. However, he didn't test well at the combine or his pro day and generally is considered undersized. Thus he dropped to the sixth round to the Bengals at pick 182 overall. He's competing with Samaje Perine to be third on the Bengals' RB depth chart and play on special teams.