Notre Dame Football: Kyren Williams could become Brian Kelly’s best ever

Kyren Williams broke 1,000 yards rushing in his first season as a starter for Notre Dame football and he still isn’t getting the national love he deserves.

Ten games into his first season as Notre Dame’s starting running back, Kyren Williams has broken the 1,000-yard mark.

Williams joins C.J. Prosise, Josh Adams and Cierre Wood as the only 1,000-yard rushers during the Brian Kelly era and Dexter Williams was just five yards shy from being in that exclusive club as well. Over the span of a decade, those three stand out as the only guys to reach that 1,000-yard plateau.

What those guys have never done that Williams has a chance to do in 2021 and beyond is reach the 1,000-yard mark in multiple seasons under Kelly. None of them reached 1,000 yards as an underclassman either.

After getting just four carries in 2019 for 26 yards, all it’s taken has been 10 games to launch Williams up to No. 45 on the all-time rushing list at Notre Dame. He’s within striking distance of Cam McDaniel, Theo Riddick, Tony Jones Jr. and Prosise and could pass all those guys this season.

If Williams averages about 100 yards per game over the last two guaranteed games, he would climb into that top-35 range heading into his second full season as starter.

It would take three straight 1,000-yard seasons to jump into the top 10 on the all-time rushing leaders list but he seems more than capable. He’s a strong runner with explosion and vision which is evidenced by his 5.6 yards per carry. On top of that, he has 24 catches for 268 yards and a touchdown, showing that he’s a true all-purpose back.

Passing guys like Wood and Adams will be tough but Williams has all the pieces to become the best running back of the Kelly era and if I were a betting man, I’d say he gets there by the time he departs.