Andre Williams gets another chance at professional football, but the former Giants running back does so outside of the NFL.
Most recently with Big Blue during the 2014 season, the four-year NFL running back headlined several players with ties to New York's teams -- the Jets and Giants -- taken Tuesday among the 2020 XFL draft's skill-player selections, picked by the Houston Roughnecks.
The Giants selected Williams from Boston College with the No. 133 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL draft. He spent two of his four seasons with the Giants from 2014-15, taking 305 carries for 978 yards (3.2 average) and eight touchdowns.
Jace Amaro was just taken by the Seattle Dragons in the 4th round of the XFL skill player draft. pic.twitter.com/zwNtjDDY6X
- SNY (@SNYtv) October 15, 2019
Offensive lineman James O'Hagan, an undrafted product of Colorado who played center during the preseason for the Giants but ultimately got cut after the team's trim down to the final roster, went in the eighth round via the DC Defenders.
In the same breath as Williams, former Jets tight end Jace Amaro was among three more XFL draft picks with New York team ties, taken by the Seattle Dragons during the fourth round.
Amaro was the Jets' second-round pick and the second tight end off the board at No. 49 overall in the 2014 NFL draft.
From Texas Tech, Amaro joined the Jets with mixed results for the 2014 season, catching 38 passes on 53 targets and recording 345 yards (9.1 per reception) with two touchdowns in 14 games (four starts).
He sat out his second year in 2015 with a torn labrum and never got back on track, with the Jets waiving him before the start of 2016 during the final roster cuts.
Other players with Jets links now on XFL teams include former tight end Nick Truesdell and one-time quarterback Brandon Silvers. The Jets waived Truesdell on Aug. 13 and did the same May 6 with Silvers, who played for the Memphis Express in the now-defunct AAF.