Andre Williams

Giants running back Andre Williams struggled as a rookie in 2014. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

(Mark Zaleski | AP Photo)

When Giants running back Rashad Jennings went down with a knee injury in Week 5 against the Atlanta Falcons last season, it thrust rookie Andre Williams into a starting role that he probably wasn't ready for.

Williams, a fourth round pick out of Boston College, had just started to find his bearings as Jennings' primary backup, rushing for 66 yards on 14 carries the week prior against Washington, and scoring his first touchdown. Unfortunately, that game represented one of the high-water marks of Williams' season.

In the four games that Jennings sat out, Williams never ran for more than 59 yards, and never surpassed 3.5 yards per carry. Williams was partly victimized by an offensive line that lost way too many battles at the line of scrimmage, failing to open up holes long enough for Williams to exploit. Only one starting offensive lineman had a positive run blocking grade last season, per Pro Football Focus (left tackle Will Beatty at +6.1).

Williams also displayed poor vision in finding those holes and cutback lanes. At 5-11, 230 pounds, Williams is a bruising north-south runner with some giddy-up when he gets to the second level, but he had trouble grasping the patience aspect of being an every-down back. Instead of waiting a split-second after he was handed the ball for his blocks to materialize, Williams would often run straight ahead, knocking into the backside of his offensive linemen countless times.

But to put into perspective just how bad Williams' rookie season was, Chase Stuart from footballperspective.com put together an interesting article looking at how many of a running back's worst carries would have to be eliminated to bring his yards per carry number above league average (4.16 yards per carry).

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Stuart uses first round bust Trent Richardson as his main example, finding that 27 of Richardson's worst carries (17 percent) would have to be eliminated for him to bring his yards per carry a hair above league average. That seems like an inordinately high number until you get to Andre Williams.

Williams ran for 717 yards on 216 carries in 2014, good for a pedestrian 3.32 yards per carry average. While those numbers don't look historically bad, Stuart's "worst carries eliminated" exercise provides another view:

By comparison, Jennings, who struggled to find his footing when he returned from the knee injury in Week 11, would need to eliminate only six of his worst carries to bring his 3.83 yards per carry above the league-wide average.

That's not to say that Williams' rookie year was a complete lost cause. He finally broke the 100-yard mark in Week 14 against the woeful Tennessee Titans, busting out for 131 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. Two weeks later against a much better St. Louis Rams defense, Williams gashed them for 110 yards on 26 carries.

Those performances give reason for optimism that Williams can develop into a nice complementary back in his sophomore season. But with Shane Vereen now in the fold as the likely third down running back behind Jennings, that leaves Williams' role this year up for question.

In theory, Williams would make a good short-yardage and goal-line back because of his size and punishing running style, but he will have to prove that he can gain those tough yards when the defense stacks the box.

Nick Powell may be reached at npowell@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpowellbkny. Find NJ.com Giants on Facebook.