Getty Dexter Williams #22 of the Green Bay Packers runs for a first down during the second quarter of the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on December 29, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan.
The Green Bay Packers are bringing back one of their own former sixth-round draft picks for a chance to contend for their 2022 active roster.
According to NFL senior insider Matt Lombardo of Heavy Sports, the Packers are re-signing fourth-year running back Dexter Williams to their 90-man roster, adding another back to their rushing room to avoid being shorthanded for this Friday’s preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers. He had worked out for the team on Tuesday, August 9.
Williams — a 2019 sixth-round pick for the Packers– spent his first two seasons on Green Bay’s active roster but was only asked to carry the ball seven times over his seven career games, slotting in behind the likes of Jamaal Williams, Tyler Ervin and AJ Dillon. He was released during the team’s final roster cuts for the 2021 season in favor of seventh-round rookie Kylin Hill and has since bounced around between four other teams, primarily as a practice-squad player.
Bringing back Williams makes sense in the short term for the Packers considering they had been previously set to roll into their preseason opener at the 49ers with just two undrafted rookies — Tyler Goodson and B.J. Baylor — filling out the depth chart at running back. Neither Aaron Jones nor Dillon is going to play against the 49ers, while prospective No. 3 rusher Patrick Taylor remains sidelined with an injury.
The Packers also still have Hill on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list as he continues working back from an ACL tear that he sustained in Week 8 last season. Given it usually takes about nine months minimum to recover from a torn ACL, it seems likely that Hill could begin 2022 on the regular-season PUP list, leaving a void to be filled.
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Will Packers Keep Focus on Rookies?
Williams will get a couple of practices in with the Packers before the preseason game and has the benefit of prior experience to help him reduce his learning curve, but will Green Bay shift the focus onto him and his second chance or will the undrafted rookies vying for a place in the NFL still get the bulk of the reps on Friday?
Goodson and Baylor were both 1,000-yard rushers in their final college season in 2021. Goodson pounded his way through Big Ten trenches for 1,151 rushing yards and six touchdowns at Iowa last year while catching 31 passes for 247 yards and another score. Baylor didn’t accomplish as much in the receiving game, but he proved to be a high-quality, high-volume rusher for Oregon State with 227 carries for 1,337 yards and 13 touchdowns and an impressive 5.9 yards per carry. If the Packers can tap into the potential of either one of them at the NFL level, they could reap huge rewards.
Both rookie backs have also had their impressive moments early in camp practices, taking advantage of the extra reps that have fallen to them during Taylor’s injury and Hill’s recovery — and the Packers’ general cautious approach with Jones and Dillon. The logical next step is putting them to the test in live reps against a real opponent.
Young players team period and BJ Baylor gets setup perfectly on a screen play. CVL, Rhyan, and Doubs (of course) leading the way.
Doubs gets paid off on the next play with a catch on a slant.
Tyler Goodson is feeling himself today. Great run up the middle.