NFL analyst says he'd rather have Kyren Williams than Christian McCaffrey
Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams is coming off consecutive 1,000-yard seasons as one of the best young players both on his team and in the NFL.
However, he remains on the fringes of the elite players at his position heading into his fourth NFL season. Williams also enters 2025 seeking a new contract, which he and the Rams have continued to discuss this offseason.
But while he may not have produced at the same level as, say, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, NFL Network's Gregg Rosenthal said he'd take Williams over McCaffrey on a recent episode of NFL Daily.
"I want to have some love for the consistent player," Rosenthal said of Williams. "He played the most snaps last season — this shocked me — of anyone in the league. ... I'd actually would rather have him than McCaffrey because I'd just rather have a guy I'd know is going to be there even though that I know, at their peaks, McCaffrey is a better player."
On its surface, this is a bold take. Only because 2024 was Williams' first full season since he joined the Rams as a fifth-round rookie three years. Before this past year, Williams missed five games in 2023 and seven in 2022.
But even more so, Williams has never eclipsed 1,500 scrimmage yards. McCaffrey has done it four times in his eight years. However, McCaffrey has also missed more than 10 games in those four other seasons.
Their age differences notwithstanding (Williams will be 25 this year and McCaffrey is 29), they also play the position differently. Williams has never caught more than 34 passes for more than 206 yards in a season, while McCaffrey is a dual-threat running back.
But that isn't Rosenthal's point. He values availability and durability over production. And because Williams was durable in 2024, the Rams haven't needed to go to their Blake Corum. On top of that, as Rosenthal's co-host, Nick Shook pointed out, "It's obvious, painfully so, when he's not on the field. They are so much worse as a running team without him when he's not on the field."
Does this make Williams more valuable than McCaffrey? We'll see when and if the Rams open their checkbook to sign Williams to an extension.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Aaron Rodgers' readiness to admit his career is almost over is a reminder of how different his ending could have been
As Aaron Rodgers was carted off the field Sept. 11, 2023, the shell-shocked crowd at MetLife Stadium wondered: Was it over? Fans didn't wonder only about whether Rodgers would return that game or that season. Advertisement There was real reason to wonder, as Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon four snaps into his New York Jets tenure, whether he would ever play professional football again. Far less had unceremoniously ended careers. Rodgers was 39 years old, with invasive surgery and a grueling rehabilitation ahead. After 18 great seasons with the Green Bay Packers, was there really more to come back for? Would playing for the Jets really motivate Rodgers through the stretching and the grasping of marbles between his toes, the lonely pain and the slow progress? Aaron Rodgers had a disappointing run with the Jets but he says that isn't motivating him with the Steelers. 'I didn't need this,' Rodgers said Tuesday. 'I didn't need it at all. I don't feel the need to prove anything to anybody [and] don't have any chip on my shoulder that I need to hold onto." (Photo by) (Michael Owens via Getty Images) It's easy to forget, or let fade, how much peril Rodgers' career was in two years ago. Forget the much-discussed darkness retreat when Rodgers seriously considered, even before the Jets, walking off into the sunset. Retirement via Achilles injury would not have been on his timeline or in his way. Advertisement And Rodgers is a man who likes doing things on his timeline and in his way. So when he said Tuesday afternoon on the "Pat McAfee Show" that he anticipates 2025 being his last season, he wasn't just agreeing to an obvious conclusion for a 41-year-old playing a younger man's game. Rodgers' admission was the closest he's come to publicly acknowledging how near the end of his career is — and that he does, very soon, envision no longer playing professional football. 'I'm pretty sure this is it,' Rodgers said of the 2025 NFL season. 'That's why we just did a one-year deal. Steelers didn't need to put any extra years on that or anything. So this was really about finishing with a lot of love and fun and peace for the career that I've had. Advertisement 'I mean, I've played 20 freaking years.' The plan for Rodgers' 21st year Rodgers explained Tuesday why the Pittsburgh Steelers are his ideal destination to finish his career on his terms. He praised head coach Mike Tomlin and a slew of defensive leaders beginning with Cam Heyward; Rodgers championed what trade-acquisition receiver DK Metcalf brings to the table, laughing at Metcalf's desire to work out with Rodgers so close to sunrise. 'He's like, 'I work out at 6 a.m. every day [and] I'm like 'OK, alrighty,'' Rodgers said. 'This guy has discipline. This guy has to drive. I said, 'How about 8 o'clock because I have to drive from Malibu to UCLA?' Advertisement 'He's not just a specimen, but he's a really solid human being. He is a solid, solid dude and he leads by example.' Rodgers joins the Steelers after his decorated Packers tenure included 10 Pro Bowl berths, four MVP awards and 11 playoff wins including a Super Bowl title. His Jets tenure was far shakier by team standards, New York finishing 5-12 last season and well short of the playoffs. Rodgers completed 63% of his passes in 2024 for 3,897 yards and 28 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. His 90.5 passer rating tied Joe Flacco's for 20th among quarterbacks, just below the 92.3 league average. Rodgers ranked 20th in EPA/play among quarterbacks who played at least 250 snaps, per Sumer Sports. (The advanced efficiency metric assesses a player's contribution to the offense and that contribution's likelihood to help or hurt the team's chance at scoring. Rodgers scored 0.0, neither helping nor hurting the offense's chance to score in aggregate.) Advertisement No one's arguing Rodgers produced a career year in 2024. But playing all 17 games (that's 1,030 snaps, for those counting at home) at 40 years old in the first year after an Achilles injury? League wisdom says players are limited the first season after Achilles tears. It shouldn't be surprising if Rodgers is healthier and more mobile in 2025, nor should it be surprising if an acknowledgment of his age and corresponding shift in play style would grant him the ability to more effectively capitalize on his rare cerebral abilities at the line of scrimmage. 'I really want the mantle of leadership on offense, and I'm going to earn it every single day in training camp,' said Rodgers, who is scheduled to work out with Steelers teammates in California next week. 'But there's some stability I think that I can bring having played in a similar system for a long time and having just played a ton of football. 'I told the guys in the first meeting: I want to pass on my knowledge.' What to expect from Rodgers' expected finale After reaching personal accolades, team success and an apparent marriage this offseason, it's fair to wonder: What's still motivating Rodgers to join a new team, learn at least some degree of new terminology, and continue to take hits from some of the fastest and strongest humans around for a 21st trip around the sun? Advertisement Is Rodgers looking for a palate cleanser after his Jets tenure? 'I didn't need this,' he said. 'I didn't need it at all. I don't feel the need to prove anything to anybody [and] don't have any chip on my shoulder that I need to hold onto. 'It's not really, 'Can't go out like this.' I love the game and there's been a beautiful relationship.' Rodgers values the chance to explore the next, and seemingly final, chapter of that relationship with a franchise whose winning history includes six Lombardi trophies, he said. He values the chance to work with sixth-round rookie quarterback Will Howard, Rodgers pulling the Ohio State product aside recently to tell him: 'I want to help you as much as possible. But I'm not going to overstep my bounds. If you want assistance, I'm here, buddy.' No, as Flacco said of his latest Cleveland Browns post with two in-house drafted rookies, Rodgers wasn't hired primarily to mentor a young player. He's primarily there to help the Steelers win games and score points. But the job is multifaceted and — at least right now — Rodgers says he wants to embrace that. Advertisement 'I'd love to help Will and set him up to have a chance to be the guy for the next who knows how long,' Rodgers said. 'I think that's part of the opportunity. It's not the job. I've seen other veteran quarterbacks talk about it. But the opportunity to help Will out is one that I'm really looking forward to and excited about.' And after that? Rodgers wants to go win — for himself, and for the Pittsburgh Steelers. 'The fact that I can come back to Pittsburgh, play for Mike, get to know the organization, be a part of a special franchise that's had such an incredible success and be able to play and follow in the footsteps of the Terry Bradshaws and Franco Harris and Lynn Swan and Jack Lambert mean Joe Green, and then all the guys that played in the 90s and the 2000s and Jerome Bettis and Big Ben [Roethlisberger] — all-time greats. Advertisement 'Just to be a guy that can put on the same uniform is pretty special for me. And that's all I need this year is just to go out there, have a chance to compete. That's why I'm working so hard. 'I want to put myself in a position to be able to play 20 games this year and 20 great ones.'
Miami Herald
21 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
LSU Defense Preview 2025: The Best Defense Yet Under Brian Kelly
The LSU defense fell off the map in 2020. It hasn't been that bad over the last four years, but it hasn't been able to pop back to the Tiger defense of the recent past. Two years ago, the Tigers were 108th in the nation in yards per game allowed. Last year was better. It wasn't great, but moving up to 61st in total defense was a solid step. After allowing 30 points or more eight times in 2023, the Tigers gave up that many or more four times in needs to be more tackles for loss, and a few more third down stops would be nice, but as long as this bunch can hold serve to let the offense do its thing, it'll be fine. - The line is going through some changes, and that might end up ramping up the pass rush even more. Patrick Payton (Florida State) is an NFL-caliber edge rusher on one side, Jack Pyburn (Florida) made 60 tackles with four tackles for loss last year for the Gators, and Jimari Butler (Nebraska) came up with 7.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss over the last two talent in place from last year's team, too. Gabriel Reliford is a rising star prospect on the end, and the sophomore tackle combination of Ahmad Breaux and Dominick McKinley is good enough to grow into the gig. 6-6, 355-pound Sydir Mitchell (Texas) is coming in to bring the mass. - How quickly can Harold Perkins Jr. get back up to speed? When he's right, he's a top 15-caliber NFL prospect and one of the best pass rushers in America, but he's coming off a torn ACL that cost him almost all of last Weeks is back after leading the team with 125 tackles with 3.5 sacks and ten tackles for loss, and West Weeks is a fifth-year senior who can fill in at one of the outside spots, if needed. Davhon Keys - who came up with a pick six in the bowl win over Baylor - is a 230-pounder who can work inside or out. - It's LSU. The cornerbacks are good, helped by the addition of Mansoor Delane (Virginia Tech), who made 146 tackles with six interceptions with 16 broken up passes over the last three Stamps was a broken-up-pass machine last season, batting away 14 to to along with 51 tackles, but the real star of the near future should be DJ Pickett, a 6-4, 190-pound five-star recruit who might be the best corner in this year's safeties are terrific, too. Javian Toviano, PJ Woodland, and Dashawn Spears had a nice freshman seasons as they got their feet wet, and now the stats will come as they take over the bigger roles. The talent is there to be great Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season2025 LSU PreviewLSU Offense Breakdown © 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Travis Kelce Makes Strong Statement in NFL's New Post
Travis Kelce Makes Strong Statement in NFL's New Post originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Despite falling short of the ultimate goal, a Super Bowl title, the Kansas City Chiefs remain one of the NFL's elite franchises. Advertisement At the heart of the Chiefs' offense is Travis Kelce, one of the greatest tight ends in league history. As Kansas City rolls through the offseason, Kelce hosted the annual Tight End University (TEU) in Nashville, a three-day training camp he co-founded in 2021 alongside George Kittle and Greg Olsen. The NFL posted a video on Tuesday capturing Kelce walking fellow tight ends through advanced route-running techniques at the event. The video opens with Kelce emphasizing the challenge "for us big guys" to plant a single foot at near-top speed, advocating instead for a two-step approach in cuts and "sometimes it takes three on the 15 to 20 yard routes if you're lucky enough to run them." Advertisement He stresses the importance of slowing momentum, gathering power and achieving a balanced, powerful position, with the instep pointed in the intended direction, so that tight ends can explode out of breaks and gain separation, even against aggressive defenders. Now 35, Kelce has amassed 1,004 career receptions for 12,151 yards and 77 receiving touchdowns through 12 seasons, making him the Chiefs' all-time receptions leader. He's a 10-time Pro Bowler, a seven-time All-Pro selection (including four first-team honors) and a three-time Super Bowl champion. Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) is teaching the craft to other tight Streicher-Imagn Images Kelce also holds numerous NFL records for tight ends, including most consecutive seasons (seven) and most overall seasons (seven) with 1,000 receiving yards, as well as the single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end (1,416 in 2020). Advertisement Kelce's latest highlight underscores his reputation as not only an elite NFL talent but also a leader and mentor within the tight end community. Related: Robert Griffin III Makes Stance Clear on Shedeur Sanders After Browns Practice Related: Shedeur Sanders Makes $500K Purchase After Signing NFL Contract This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
