Jamaal Malik Williams (born April 3, 1995) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

for the Detroit Lions of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

Early years

Williams attended Summit High School in Fontana, California. While there, he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the Sky Hawks. A 3-star recruit, he committed to

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(BYU) to play college football over an offer from Boise State.

College career

Williams played at BYU from 2012 to 2016.

2012 season

On August 30, 2012, Williams made his collegiate debut with 15 rushing yards in the win over

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. On September 15, against

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, he had his first collegiate rushing touchdown. On September 28, against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, he had 155 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. On October 13, against

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, he added two more rushing touchdowns. On October 27, against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, he had 107 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, and three receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown. On November 10, against

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

, he had 104 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Overall, he finished the 2012 season with 775 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 27 receptions, 315 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown.

2013 season

On August 31, 2013, in the season opener against

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, Williams had 144 rushing yards and 25 receiving yards. In the next game against

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, he had 182 rushing yards in the victory. On October 25, against Boise State, he had 107 rushing yards and 24 receiving yards. On November 16, against the

Idaho State Bengals The Idaho State Bengals are the varsity intercollegiate athletic teams representing Idaho State University, located in Pocatello, Idaho. The university sponsors thirteen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, tennis, and trac ...

, he had 131 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. On November 30, against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, he had 219 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Overall, in the 2013 season, he finished with 1,233 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns, 18 receptions, and 125 receiving yards.

2014 season

On September 6, 2014, against

, Williams had 89 rushing yards and twelve receiving yards in the victory. Five days later, against

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, he had 139 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. On October 3, against Utah State, he had 102 rushing yards. He later suffered a knee injury and was sidelined for the remainder of the 2014 season. In his shortened season, he had 518 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, eight receptions, and 47 receiving yards.

2015 season

Williams did not play in 2015 after withdrawing from the school, and redshirted.

2016 season

Williams started his final collegiate season with 163 rushing yards against

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. On September 24, against West Virginia, he had 169 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. On September 30, he rushed for a school-record 286 yards and five touchdowns on 29 carries during a 55–53 win over Toledo. In the next game, against Michigan State, he had 163 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. In his final college game, he was named the MVP of the 2016 Poinsettia Bowl after rushing for 210 yards and a touchdown against

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

. That red-shirt senior season, he had 1,375 yards on 234 carries for 12 touchdowns, leading the independent conference in all three categories. During his career, he rushed for a school-record 3,901 yards on 726 carries with 35

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

Statistics

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Williams was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round with the 134th overall pick in the

. He was the 13th running back selected in that year's draft. He was signed to his rookie contract on June 1, 2017. On September 10, 2017, in his NFL debut, Williams had two rushes for nine yards in a 17–9 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. In Week 9, against the Detroit Lions, he scored his first career rushing touchdown. On December 3, against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

, he had 113 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Overall, he finished his rookie season with 556 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, 25 receptions, 262 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns. In the 2018 season, Williams recorded 464 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, and 27 receptions for 210 receiving yards. During a Week 4 loss to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

on September 26, 2019, Williams suffered a concussion during an illegal helmet-to-helmet hit by Eagles

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

Derek Barnett. Williams lay motionless on the turf for several minutes before medical staff wheeled him off the field on a gurney; he was immediately transported to a local hospital for evaluation, but was released from the hospital the next day. In the following week's game against the Detroit Lions, Williams rushed 14 times for 104 yards and caught four passes for 32 yards and a touchdown in the 23–22 win. In Week 8 against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

, Williams rushed seven times for 22 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 14 yards and a touchdown in the 31–24 win. Overall, he recorded 460 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to go along with 39 receptions for 253 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns. Williams was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

list by the team on November 3, 2020, and activated six days later. Williams finished the 2020 season with 119 carries for 505 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to go along with 31 receptions for 236 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.

Detroit Lions

On March 19, 2021, Williams signed a two-year contract with the Detroit Lions. In the Lions' 2021 regular season opener, he had 110 scrimmage yards in the 41–33 loss to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. On November 25, 2021, Williams carried the ball for the 585th time in his career, breaking the NFL record previously held by

Phillip Lindsay Phillip Lindsay (born July 24, 1994) is an American football running back who is a free agent. Lindsay was born in Denver, Colorado, grew up in Aurora, Colorado, and attended South High School in Denver where he became the school's all-time le ...

for the most carries without ever fumbling. Williams finished the 2021 season with 153 carries for 601 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns to go along with 26 receptions for 157 receiving yards. In the Lions' first four games to start the 2022 season, Williams recorded two rushing touchdowns in three of the games.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Awards and records

NFL awards

* FedEx Ground Player of the Week – Week 11, 2022

Lions franchise records

* Most rushing touchdowns in the first 10 games of the regular season: 12 (November 20, 2022)

References

External links

*
Detroit Lions bioBYU Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jamaal 1995 births Living people American football running backs American Latter Day Saints BYU Cougars football players Detroit Lions players Green Bay Packers players People from Fontana, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Rialto, California