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Fantasy Football Week 6 Waiver Wire: RB Andre Williams

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By @RoKnowsDFS

andre williams new york giants rb running back

Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Due to the unfortunate circumstances regarding David Wilson – the former New York Giants RB that was forced to retire at the age of 23 due to reoccurring neck injuries — the “G-Men” had to ensure that they had a solid RB corps coming into the 2014 season. They initially addressed that issue with the signing of Rashad Jennings, formerly of the Oakland Raiders. Jennings averaged 4.5 yards-per-carry last year as he served as Oakland’s featured back due to Darren McFadden dealing with injuries. Therefore, this signing seemed to make perfect sense for the Giants, but they didn’t stop with Jennings. In the fourth round of this year’s NFL Draft, they selected a 2013-14 Doak Walker Award-winning All-American from Boston College, Andre Williams; Williams finished his senior season with 2,177 yards and 18 touchdowns. His ability to be a bell-cow back provided additional insurance for the Giants in case Jennings had to miss any time during the regular season.

Speaking of missing time during the regular season, that is the current situation for the Giants, as Jennings had to leave Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons with an MCL sprain. However, Williams played well in his absence, as he carried the ball 20 times for 66 rushing yards and a touchdown. He was able to accomplish this even though he only played one half’s worth of football. Therefore, it’s possible that he could have ended the game with well over 100 rushing yards and at least one more touchdown. He’s already proving to be just as much of a workhorse RB in the NFL as he proved to be in college, and with Jennings expected to miss the next two games at minimum, he will have more chances to continue proving it.

The next two opponents on the Giants’ schedule are the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys. Philadelphia is currently ranked 24th in run defense, as they allow 132 rushing yards per game this season. Dallas is better, but not much better, as they’re ranked 20th in run defense and allow 122 rushing yards per game. This bodes very well for Williams, as both teams can’t afford to load the box to focus on stopping the run. If they do, then Eli Manning will pick apart their pass defenses with his cast of aerial weapons including Victor Cruz, Rueben Randle, Larry Donnell and Odell Beckham, Jr.

Therefore, I strongly recommend making an immediate waiver wire claim for Williams if he’s available in your league. He will provide immediate low-end RB1/high-end RB2 upside as long as Jennings is out. Additionally, when Jennings returns, Williams should still provide low-end RB2/Flex spot upside, as he should earn more short yardage and goal-line carries. This should lead to him becoming a touchdown vulture and potentially turning around the fortunes of many fantasy teams looking for that next great edge over their competition.

Roje Smith is a Fantasy Sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RoKnowsDFS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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