There wasn't much fuss made when the Pittsburgh Steelers signed running back DeAngelo Williams in the offseason. After all, he was a 32-year-old ball carrier who hadn't really shown much over the last few seasons. What was there to say?
But then Williams filled in capably for Le'Veon Bell during his two-game suspension to start the season and opinions started to change. In those two games, Williams carried the ball 41 times for 204 yards (4.9 YPC) and three touchdowns. Clearly, the former Carolina Panther had something left in the tank, though Bell's return pushed him back to the bench.
But with Bell suffering a season ending injury in Week 8, the starting job reverted back to Williams who made the most of it once again. The veteran rushed for 170 yards on 27 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns this past weekend. Going forward, Williams is a potential top 10 fantasy RB.
"The Raiders, for whatever you think of their defense, hadn't permitted more than 50 rushing yards before contact to a running back this season, and Williams had 102 yards that way, according to ESPN Stats & Information research," ESPN Fantasy Football Insider Eric Karabell wrote. "An obvious DFS must-start this week, I ranked Williams top-five for traditional fantasy as well based on the matchup, opportunity to avoid sharing touches and, most of all, for how surprisingly proficient he has looked this season when Le'Veon Bell has been out. Williams averaged 3.5 yards per tote for the Panthers last season and that can't really be blamed on sharing touches with Jonathan Stewart. The free agent pickup sure seems motivated but hadn't really helped fantasy owners on a consistent basis since 2009. Now he looks unstoppable, a clear top-10 running back the rest of the season."
Overall, Williams has 90 rushing attempts for 480 yards (5.3 YPC) and five touchdowns on the year. He's also caught 12 passes for 122 yards. With Ben Roethlisberger set to miss another week or two with a mid-foot sprain, Pittsburgh will likely try to rely on its running game which means more work for Williams.
The Steelers will next play the Cleveland Browns who rank dead last in rushing yards allowed per game (147.6), 29th in yards per carry (4.7) and 26th in rushing touchdowns (9). All that is to say that Williams is in line for yet another big day.
