The New York Giants had a revolving door at running back last season and the front office is hoping fourth-round pick Andre Williams can help solve the problem.
Williams, from Boston College, led the nation with 2,177 rushing yards. That's the fifth-most all-time in FBS history, behind only Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders (2,628 in 1988), UCF's Kevin Smith (2,567 in 2007), USC's Marcus Allen (2,342 in 1981) and Iowa State's Troy Davis (2,185 in 1996).
Williams had nine 100-yard games and five 200-yard outings in 2013, including four contests with at least 263 yards. He also had nine games with at least 25 carries. "Eating carries? Not a problem," NFL Media draft analyst Charles Davis said during NFL Network's draft coverage.
Williams, a 227-pounder, is a physical downhill runner who occasionally can turn the corner. "He's faster than you think at 227 pounds," draft analyst Mike Mayock said on NFL Network.
The flipside? "He does not have natural hands," Mayock said.
That's an understatement: Williams had zero receptions in '13 and just 10 in his four-season career.
One anonymous NFL scout told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel before the draft that Williams has the "Worst hands I've ever seen. I never even saw them pitch it to him. You would be crazy to pitch it to him. It's so bad, you feel bad for the kid."
Williams graduated from BC in early December with an applied psychology and human development degree. He was unable to attend the ceremony because it came on the same day as the College Football Awards Show, where Williams won the Doak Walker Award given to the nation's top running back. Awards show host Chris Fowler presented him with a mortarboard on stage.
Mayock alluded to Williams' academic achievements by pointing out that he is in the process of writing a book. To that end, Mayock said, his offensive line teammates had taken to calling him "Edgar," as in Edgar Allan Poe.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
