DeAngelo Williams proved last year that he was more than just a backup filling in for the injured Le’Veon Bell. He saved the season for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who made it to the divisional round and gave the Denver Broncos a competitive game. Bell is out for substance abuse issues. Williams picked up where he left off for Bell on Monday Night Football with 149 rushing yards against the Washington Redskins.
Charles Sims is a Top Five Backup RB
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a valuable backup running back in Charles Sims. Sims performed the highlight of his brief career in the second quarter. Sims caught what was a first down, and turned it into a juke-fest.
It was a clutch touchdown that put the Buccaneers ahead of the Atlanta Falcons 17-10. The Buccaneers would not relinquish the lead. Sims finished the game with three catches for 32 yards with the 23-yard touchdown catch.
Sims’ appearances are often very brief because he backs up Doug Martin. Martin is one of the few running backs nowadays who frequently plays all three downs. Martin has rushed for 1,000 yards twice in his career. He is also effective at catching balls out of the backfield.
The Value of a Pass-Catching Back
Sims occupies playing time because he specializes at catching balls out of the backfield. In his collegiate career, Sims caught 203 passes compared to 592 rushing attempts. When he was a freshman at Houston, Sims caught 70 passes and rushed the ball 132 times. And as a sophomore, he had four receiving touchdowns compared to nine rushing touchdowns.
Sims put that versatility on display to full effect in his second year with the Buccaneers in 2015 when he caught 51 passes for 561 yards and four touchdowns. He ran the ball 107 times for 529 yards. He averaged a respectable 4.9 yards per carry and didn’t have a rushing touchdown. Sims has 177 career rushing attempts in the NFL compared to 73 career receptions, but he has 783 career receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns compared to 723 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
Williams is in a category of his own right now as far as the best backup in the NFL, but it’s difficult to find another backup more valuable than Sims.
Next in line after Williams might be Spencer Ware of the Kansas City Chiefs, who was filled in for Jamaal Charles last year along with Charcandrick West. In 11 games, Ware ran 72 times for 403 yards, six touchdowns and an average of 5.6 yards per attempt.
Giovani Bernard of the Cincinnati Bengals belongs in the top five. He provides speed compared to the Bengals’ lead running back Jeremy Hill who is a power running back. Bernard is similar to Sims in that he catches between 40 and 50 passes a year.
The player who most resembles Sims is Theo Riddick of the Detroit Lions. Riddick is a running back who has more catches than he does rushing attempts. Last year, Riddick had 80 catches compared to 43 rushing attempts.
The best backup of the era has been Darren Sproles, who is still going strong with the Philadelphia Eagles. Sproles has been in the NFL 11 years and has caught at least 70 passes three times in his career.
