The number of players opting out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow.
On Wednesday, running back Damien Williams of the Kansas City Chiefs added his name to the list.
"As an organization, we certainly understand and respect Damien’s choice, knowing it was made in the best interest of his family. He means a lot to our football team as a player and a person, and we’re going to miss having him around this season.”
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) July 29, 2020
The shifty 5-foot-11 Williams played in 11 regular season games (six starts) for the Chiefs in 2019, totaling 711 yards from scrimmage with seven touchdowns. His contribution was bigger in the postseason where he started all three games for Kansas City, helping them to the Super Bowl.
In those three playoff starts, Williams had a workman-like 290 yards from scrimmage to go with six touchdowns, including an arguably MVP-caliber performance in the Super Bowl where he rushed for over 100 yards on just 17 carries against a vaunted 49ers defense. He also chipped in two trips to paydirt in the game (one rushing and one receiving).
The Chiefs are deep in the running back room and have incoming rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire who stands to be the immediate incumbent to head up the rushing attack. Additionally, Edwards-Helaire’s fantasy football stock immediately soars on draft boards where he was already one of the most-coveted rookies being drafted.
Williams will not be the last big-ticket player to decline to play in 2020. You can keep up with every decision on Prime Time Sports Talk’s 2020 NFL Opt-Out Tracker.
