Sleeper Alert: Arizona Cardinals RB Ryan Williams

Although there are a plethora of sleepers in this coming 2011-2012 NFL season, there are only a few of them who I feel are worth a risk, capable of outputting a high reward. Of these few players, Ryan Williams is among them.

The rookie running back from Virginia Tech, drafted in the 2^nd round to the Arizona Cardinals is slated to have an outbreak of a season, with the high potential of already producing profound numbers. For those of you who are dubious of his production this upcoming season, just hear me out.

I’ll get right into the running back situation first. What truly did surprise me was coach Ken Whisenhunt gave Beanie Wells the starting nod. Perhaps to motivate Williams even more, or to not get Williams overconfident in his role.

Everyone is aware that Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells couldn’t perform to the bar that was set for him last season, running with no authority. His ailing knee problem doesn’t exactly fortify him to have, let alone keep a prominent role in the coming season. It couldn’t get any worse for his situation then, right? Wrong.

Beanie isn’t exactly a favorite of the coaching staff. Even if the coaching staff did like him as a person and a player, they’d still be hesitant on playing him with a heavy workload with his injury prone knee. Now imagine a coaching staff that disfavors his undisciplined attitude and laziness, along with the factor of Beanie’s knee to weigh down the situation further. That leaves the next competitive back on the Cardinals- Tim Hightower. Luckily for Ryan Williams’s stock, Tim Hightower was traded to the Washington Redskins. Hightower was the only back that proposed any threat to stealing 3^rd down touches, seeing that he had the best hands at the running back position in Arizona.

Now let me get into team dynamics – the recent acquisition of quarterback Kevin Kolb has only relieved the pressure off of Williams’s shoulders when Kolb lines up behind the quarterback. Without the Three Stooges from last year leading the offense, opposing defenses won’t be able to always heavily predict the run like they did so last year by stacking the box and line.

With elite wideout Larry Fitzgerald still there, Kolb won’t seem to have any problems. Fitz marked over 1000 yards receiving last year in double, even triple coverage, with a beat-up and disappointing running back, and three different quarterbacks that all failed miserably.

The offense wasn’t the only tandem of the Cardinals that improved.

The defense boasts 2 Pro-Bowl caliber safeties in Kerry Rhodes and Adrian Wilson, who was still a valued safety last season even with a torn adductor muscle in his groin without telling anyone in the organization of the injury. Rookie cornerback Patrick Peterson has a chance to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. And of course, the consistent leader of the defense, Darnell Dockett is up at the line along with the always improving Calais Campbell opposite of him.

You might be asking yourself why I even bothered including the defensive improvements in Arizona. Well, an improved defense takes away pressure from the offense. With a better defense, the offense in Arizona won’t always be put into a corner and force themselves to chase back a deficit because the defense underperformed, allowing the opposing team to easily score on them, as so was the case last season. A more balanced and improved team eases pressure from every position on the Cardinals, whether it’s WR Fitz, QB Kolb, or of RB Ryan Williams.

The NFC West a fairly easy-going conference with mild competition. Seattle Seahawks are swamped with an inconsistent and foolhardy Tarvaris Jackson leading the offense.

The 49ers still have the unreliable and extremely disappointing Alex Smith who won’t be able to even utilize talents such as Vernon Davis or Michael Crabtree to their max potential.

That leaves the Rams. I’ll give it to them, they don’t look too bad this year – Sam Bradford has a year of experience in the professional league, after even handling himself well his rookie season, and of course Steven Jackson. But let’s go over the cons – Bradford won’t be in the same offensive system anymore. With new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels calling the shots, the Rams will go into more of a shotgun formation, leading to more passing opportunities. I doubt the Rams offensive line will be able to weather that much time and pressure to consistently protect Bradford.

Now, the predicament I have with Steven Jackson is the same I have with Peyton Hillis and Frank Gore. He’s weathered so much and has been relied on so much in St. Louis. It’s almost a guarantee he will see injuries this season.

Peyton Hillis is being claimed of being worn out already, and it’s only been one workload season for him; Steven Jackson’s about to see his third workload season. The guy is 28 years old but the way the Rams have been just throwing him in the trenches, up the middle strong, one would think he’s past 30 years old. An improved offense and defense in Arizona will allow them to win more games against division opponents, eventually gaining a lead then running out the clock by handing it off their RB- none other than Ryan Williams.

Rest assured, Ryan Williams will be no joke this season. He’s not only extremely valued in any keeper or dynasty leagues, he also holds great value as a early-middle round draft pick. Don’t wait too long for this guy. You’ll regret you didn’t draft this talented prospect earlier, and then most likely lose his sleeper value forever, since that term won’t even apply to him after the early weeks in the NFL season.