When a player is injured in the NFL you often hear the phrase “Next man up” when talking with the coaching staff. It’s a coaching philosophy that every team in the league seems to use, but it seldom works. In Kansas City, they’ve had success with this at a number of different positions during the Andy Reid era. In part, it’s because they’ve got an accompanying philosophy that players buy into.
“We coach our starters to be starters and to not get their jobs taken,” Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy explained in November of 2019. “We coach our backups to go out there and prepare as a starter and to take their job.”
When you take the practice field with the Chiefs, you aren’t just preparing and competing against the other team, you’re also competing with your teammates. It’s a friendly competition, of course, but it also keeps the players on their toes and ready when their number finally gets called.
A player who has seemingly bought into this philosophy is former UDFA RB Darrel Williams. Throughout his career in Kansas City, Williams has had some opportunities to flash his skills. An 11-carry performance in Week 17 of his rookie year, then a two-touchdown performance in Week 4 of 2019 against the Detroit Lions, and an 11-carry day later in the year come to mind. Just as he was beginning to show his true potential, Williams suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in Week 13 of the 2019 season.
“Darrel is a strong-minded kid, so I’m proud of him and how he’s handled it,” Chiefs HC Andy Reid said. “He had a nice year last year. He comes in, he got hurt, and then he comes back and he worked his tail off to get himself back into football shape, and it’s paying off for him. So, he’s done a nice job for us and I’m happy for him. He’s a good kid, so you’re happy for those guys that work their tail off and are good people.”
It was like starting fresh for Williams in a sense. He found himself competing for playing time in 2020 against his former college teammate Clyde Edwards-Helaire, another draft pick in Darwin Thompson, and a new free-agent acquisition Le’Veon Bell.
“Well, growing up, I’ve been through a lot,” Williams told reporters of the situation on Thursday. “I never let anything get me down. With that, it’s one of those things where I’ve got to keep my focus, keep grinding, keep doing what I’m doing, stay positive. The guys in the room and the guys on the team, they kept my spirits up. I just had to stay positive, but it wasn’t too hard.”
Darrel has persisted on the Chiefs roster at the running back position that has seen some changes since his arrival. As a rookie, he worked behind Kareem Hunt, Spencer Ware and Damien Williams. Last year, LeSean McCoy entered the mix. None of those players have suited up for Kansas City this year, but Darrel has been able to stick around and earn the trust of the coaching staff in the process.
“Dirty [Darrel Williams] is a smart, intelligent football player,” Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy said. “He always has been that way. He’s a guy that can line up and play in two positions. He can play at the running back position and he can also play the fullback position. He’s a very smooth operating customer. He’s very smooth through the holes. The thing he has always been told that he understands is, because it had a chance to come to light a few times since he’s been here, make sure you continue working and only worry about the things you can control. And when you’re presented with that moment, you make sure that you make it happen.”
Darrel seized the moment in the divisional round, accounting for 94 yards from scrimmage including a crucial fourth-down conversion after Patrick Mahomes’ injury. It wasn’t just a display showing the type of player he is, but it shows that the Chiefs’ philosophy works when players buy-in.
“I told him the other day, yesterday in fact, I told him that I was very proud of his performance, not because of the numbers he put up,” Bieniemy continued. “We knew that he was very capable of that—in fact, he could put up even better numbers. The thing that I was proud of is his ability to persevere through all the adversity he’s been through because he really hasn’t been given that opportunity to just go out there and shine like I know every player has when they envision themselves playing in this league. So, I’m very proud of the player, but more importantly very proud of the person for just seeing it through.”
With Edwards-Helaire still working his way back from injury, it’s opened up an opportunity for Darrel this postseason and he’s earned it. It is almost mimicking the way that Darrel’s injury in 2019 opened an opportunity for Damien Williams to come in be a postseason hero for Kansas City.
“Nothing’s really given to us,” Darrel told reporters on Thursday. “Everything that we get, we have to grind to go get it…”
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