Kansas City Chiefs third-year running back Darrel Williams played an important role in the team’s victory over the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Williams, listed as the No. 3 running back on the Chiefs’ depth chart, earned his first career start against the Browns on Sunday. He amassed 94 scrimmage yards on 17 touches, including a crucial fourth-down conversion following the injury to Chiefs starting QB Patrick Mahomes.
Many believed that in the absence of starting RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire it’d be Le’Veon Bell with the majority of the work. He was a key midseason free-agent signing and had served as the backup to Edwards-Helaire since his arrival. Instead, Williams saw nearly 80% of the offensive snaps compared to just 16% for Bell. Chiefs HC Andy Reid explained the reasoning behind his decision following the game.
“Listen, it was just the hot hand,” Reid said. “Le’Veon (Bell) has done everything we’ve asked him to do and he’s a great kid, man, love the kid. You just get into these and you kind of go with what’s working, and for whatever reason, Darrel (Williams) was working. Listen, I’m proud of him too because he’s never hung his head, even when he was third and fourth, he just keeps going. He’s not maybe a household name, but maybe after this game, people will know him and respect the work that he does. He’s a very intelligent football player and he plays, as you saw, a very physical game.”
While Reid chose to ride the hot hand during the course of the game, this decision had been in the works for a few weeks. Williams had taken the majority of the offensive snaps at the running back position back in Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons. This came after both Edwards-Helaire and Bell were banged up in Week 15 against the New Orleans Saints. Williams had 14 touches for 73 yards in that game, proving to be a capable option within the offense, especially running between the tackles.
This isn’t the first time that Williams has flashed. He was carving out a nice role for himself in the Chiefs’ running back rotation in 2019 but suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in Week 13. He’s been working back from that injury all season and now the undrafted free agent out of LSU is taking full advantage of his opportunity.
Even if Edwards-Helaire is cleared to return from his high ankle sprain this week, Williams could see a big role against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC title game. His only rushing touchdown of the season came against the Bills back in Week 6 of the regular season. Look for him to build on that performance in the postseason.
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