What It Means:

“That’s always a big mark,” Shanahan said of Williams' ball-control. “If you can’t hold onto the ball it’s very tough to play in this league. He’s had a few of them. So that definitely is alarming. Something we have to get fixed.” After struggling with holding onto the ball throughout camp, the rookie running back lost a fumble at the San Diego Chargers’ 19-yard line in Thursday's final preseason contest. He also lost 6 fumbles on 289 carries in college at the University of Utah, so Shanahan's concerns are well-founded. It looks like Williams will open the year at third, or possibly even fourth, on the 49ers' depth chart.

numberFire's pre-season fantasy rankings have Williams as the RB88 overall. numberFire's models project him to total just 165.4 yards from scrimmage and 0.64 touchdowns on 30.5 offensive touches during his rookie campaign.