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  • FA Running Back #32
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    Utah RB Joe Williams posted the second highest Speed Score among running backs at the NFL Combine.
    Football Outsiders’ Speed Score adjusts straight-line speed for weight. Only LSU’s Leonard Fournette (116.0) had a higher Speed Score than Williams (111.0), who ran 4.41 at 210 pounds. Williams has a litany of off-field concerns after getting kicked out of UConn and temporarily retiring last year at Utah, but he certainly has NFL-caliber speed. He’s a likely late-round flyer pick.
  • FA Running Back #32
    In Peter King’s personal account of the 49ers’ 2017 draft, it is revealed coach Kyle Shanahan was the impetus for the team’s fourth-round trade up for Utah RB Joe Williams.
    King sat in the 49ers’ draft room and recapped all seven rounds. GM John Lynch had removed Williams from his draft board for off-field reasons. Entering day three of the draft, Shanahan made it clear he wanted Williams and so Lynch obliged, calling Williams on the phone and getting his side of the story on Williams’ checkered, multi-school past and temporary 2016 retirement. The Niners then traded up to get him. In San Francisco, 4.41 speedster Williams will try to force a committee with grinder back Carlos Hyde.
  • FA Running Back #32
    49ers traded up to select Utah RB Joe Williams with the No. 121 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.
    Williams (5’11/210) committed to UConn out of high school only to get kicked off the team for credit card theft, spend two years at “ASA College” in Brooklyn, and finish up at Utah for his junior and senior years. Williams temporarily retired last September, but returned in October and posted a sparkling 210-1,407-10 (6.7 YPC) rushing line. After bouncing around colleges, Williams will be a 24-year-old rookie. He also caught only 20 passes in 19 games at Utah, dropping 5-of-27 catchable targets and fumbling seven times. Williams’ calling card is his straight-line speed (4.41). In San Francisco, first-year coach Kyle Shanahan may envision Williams as his new version of Tevin Coleman.
  • FA Running Back #32
    49ers signed fourth-round RB Joe Williams to a four-year contract.
    Essentially handpicked by new coach Kyle Shanahan, Williams arrives in the Bay as a 4.41 speedster behind contract-year incumbent starter Carlos Hyde, about whom the 49ers’ new regime has had publicly mixed feelings. Williams is an intriguing Dynasty pick with a real chance to contribute in re-draft leagues, as well. Shanahan may envision Williams as his new Tevin Coleman.
  • FA Running Back #32
    CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco believes fourth-round rookie Joe Williams has a “legitimate chance” to “immediately unseat” Carlos Hyde as the starter.
    Williams has so many things working in his favor. He was handpicked by coach Kyle Shanahan, who banged the table for him in the 49ers’ draft room, even when GM John Lynch left Williams off the team’s draft board. RBs coach Bobby Turner also personally stayed in touch with Williams throughout the draft process and also campaigned for him. Hyde is entering the final year of his contract for a regime that has zero ties to him and has proven injury-prone. This could be a two-headed backfield for 2017 before Williams takes over as the lead back in 2018.
  • FA Running Back #32
    Joe Williams managed 16 yards on seven carries and caught his lone target for a gain of 11 in the 49ers’ third preseason game.
    Williams ran behind Carlos Hyde, Matt Breida, and Raheem Mostert as Tim Hightower took the night off. Williams’ August has been mostly quiet since he ripped off 34- and 17-yard gains in the 49ers’ preseason opener. Williams is still likely to make the 53, but he is in danger of not having an early-season role.
  • FA Running Back #32
    49ers placed fourth-round RB Joe Williams on injured reserve with an ankle injury.
    A hot name this offseason, Williams was buried on the depth chart by the end of August, and it is likely the 49ers were looking for any option to stash the running back without burning a roster spot. With Williams and Tim Hightower gone, UDFA rookie Matt Breida is the back to own behind Carlos Hyde.
  • FA Running Back #32
    Coach Kyle Shanahan called fourth-round RB Joe Williams’ fumble issues this summer “alarming.”
    “If you can’t hold onto the ball it’s very tough to play in this league,” Shanahan said. “He’s had a few of them. So that definitely is alarming. Something we have to get fixed.” Williams put the ball on the ground in the preseason finale Thursday night and has battled butter fingers in camp. He fumbled seven times in two seasons at Utah. Williams looks buried on the running back chart.
  • FA Running Back #32
    CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco says rookie Joe Williams has gotten off to a “slow start” at 49ers camp.
    It’s allowed Carlos Hyde to reemerge as the favorite to start, and Tim Hightower to grab a hold of No. 2 running back duties. Early practice reviews on Williams have been mixed to poor. Maiocco writes Williams “is still gaining familiarity with the system,” and “must do a better job of securing the football.” Practice reports indicate Williams has been fumbling early in camp.
  • FA Running Back #32
    Joe Williams rushed seven times for 60 yards in the 49ers’ preseason opener.
    Perhaps upset at playing behind undrafted rookie Matt Breida, Williams came out hot in his NFL debut, gaining 34 yards on dueling 17-yard runs on his first two handoffs. He added a couple more chunk gains later and had another 17-yard run called back on a penalty. Despite working behind Breida, the two backs split work fairly evenly when both were in the game, suggesting they are neck and neck on the depth chart. The duo should battle it out for the No. 3 job the rest of the way.