It was easy to dismiss a slow Week 1 for Cowboys RB Javonte Williams. He managed just 3.4 yards per carry and 6.2 yards per catch, but the whole Dallas offense struggled in losing to the Giants. And Williams delivered TDs rushing and receiving to keep his fantasy managers happy. But he followed that with just a 12-30 rushing line and 3 catches for 20 yards in a lopsided win over the Commanders. Williams is now averaging just 3.0 yards per carry and 6.4 per catch for the season. That's 1.2 below his career rushing average but 0.7 higher on the yards per reception.
It's Not Looking Fluky
It's tough to determine exactly what's wrong through two games, but there are some issues and potential signals.
First, Williams is down across efficiency metrics vs. his first Dallas season. Here are his yearly numbers for:
- Pro Football Reference's yards before contact per attempt and yards after contact per attempt
- Pro Football Focus' YAC per attempt
- NFL Next Gen Stats' rush yards over expected per attempt
| Year | YBC/Att | PFR YAC/Att | PFF YAC/Att | RYOE/Att |
| 2026 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 2.42 | -0.07 |
| 2025 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 3.56 | 0.6 |
| 2024 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 2.40 | -0.6 |
| 2023 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 2.71 | -0.38 |
| 2022 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.49 | N/A |
| 2021 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 3.42 | 0.06 |
The biggest changes lie in YAC per attempt, which could be impacted by a decline in blocking.
The Cowboys lost starting LG Tyler Smith to left-thumb surgery just before the season. In his absence, Dallas' run-blocking grade from PFF is down from 71.4 last season to 63.4
It's also worth noting, however, that Williams has faced fewer stacked boxes than last year. He's actually at a career-low 12.5% of runs facing eight or more defenders in the box. That's down from 21.8% last season.
Perhaps issues are working together against the RB.
A downgrade in blocking is giving Williams a bit less room to get going. And then once he does get through contact, an unstacked box has more guys available beyond the line of scrimmage to make the stop.
Williams has long runs of just 8 and 9 yards so far.
2026 Fantasy Football Impact
There's room, of course, for Williams to rebound -- especially once Smith returns. His recovery timeline of 4-6 weeks would bring the guard back sometime in the Week 5 to Week 7 range.
That still means challenging matchups with Baltimore and Houston the next two weeks.
We'll watch to see if Williams can simply prove those first two outings were fluky. But Washington's defense finished 27th in rush DVOA last year, and the Giants got torched by the Rams on Monday night.
I'm not saying you should bench Williams in Week 3 against Baltimore. But he probably belongs lower in our RB rankings than where he landed the first two weeks.
