DeAngelo Williams Has Surgery | 2010 NFL Fantasy Football Projections

DeAngelo Williams may have played in the Pro Bowl this past month but all fantasy football owners care about is that he missed the final two weeks of the regular season due to injury. The injury Williams suffered was of the ankle variety as he went down in the first quarter of a Week 15 contest against the Minnesota Vikings.

Upon Williams departure, backup running back Jonathan Stewart went on to have three great fantasy games and helped fantasy owners to championships.

Stewart’s most notable game must have been against the New York Giants in Week 16 when he ran for over 200 yards and helped the Panthers blow out the Giants in their last game at the Meadowlands. This stretch of games should only remind fantasy owners that if they draft Williams in this coming year's draft they had best plan to draft Stewart as a backup.

Williams has the talent to be an easy first-round fantasy pick but there are some lingering problems that will prevent him from going off fantasy draft boards in that round. For one, Stewart is bound to take away touches all year long and key touchdown opportunities.

Speaking of touchdowns, Williams dropped from his 2008 touchdown total of 20 all the way down to only seven this past year. One has to believe that 2008 was probably a carrier year, as Williams hasn’t sniffed double-digit touchdowns in any other year he has played.

Another problem for Williams is health, as this week Williams admitted to having surgery on the ankle that he suffered his injury to end his season. This surgery wasn’t major as Williams was able (as noted earlier) to play in the Pro Bowl just a few weeks back.

To make matters even more interesting coming into this next year is that Williams is in the final year of his contract. It will be interesting to see how the team uses Williams as he is due for a major increase in pay after this season. One thing Williams has going for him is that John Fox is still the head coach of the Panthers.

Fox is known for being very loyal to his veterans and will probably continue to give Williams the main bulk of the work load this coming season. Still, look to Williams as a risk/reward player with very high upside coming into this years’ fantasy football draft.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com