While I was off last week, Matt Williamson did some pinch-hitting and ranked the NFC South backfield situations. He put the Carolina Panthers at No. 1.
No argument here at all. In fact, Williamson’s case just got a little bit stronger.
The Panthers claimed running back Armond Smith off waivers from Cleveland on Tuesday and waived defensive back Reggie Sullivan.
This might not seem like a big deal because Smith has all of three career carries. But think about Carolina’s coaching staff and think how the NFL is a copy-cat league. At least on paper, Smith, 5-foot-9 and 194 pounds, is only a slightly larger version of Darren Sproles. Refresher course time: Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski used to be an assistant in San Diego. Sproles used to be a pretty good running back in San Diego, before he went to New Orleans and became great last season.
Yeah, comparing Smith to Sproles is a big stretch at this point. But Chudzinski could be picturing Smith in some packages in which he would play a similar role to Sproles. Carolina already has a loaded backfield with Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams sharing the feature-back role and the Panthers added running back/fullback Mike Tolbert (another former San Diego player) this offseason.
That backfield could be even better if the Panthers sprinkled in a few carries and a few catches per game for a speed back like Smith.
No argument here at all. In fact, Williamson’s case just got a little bit stronger.
The Panthers claimed running back Armond Smith off waivers from Cleveland on Tuesday and waived defensive back Reggie Sullivan.
This might not seem like a big deal because Smith has all of three career carries. But think about Carolina’s coaching staff and think how the NFL is a copy-cat league. At least on paper, Smith, 5-foot-9 and 194 pounds, is only a slightly larger version of Darren Sproles. Refresher course time: Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski used to be an assistant in San Diego. Sproles used to be a pretty good running back in San Diego, before he went to New Orleans and became great last season.
Yeah, comparing Smith to Sproles is a big stretch at this point. But Chudzinski could be picturing Smith in some packages in which he would play a similar role to Sproles. Carolina already has a loaded backfield with Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams sharing the feature-back role and the Panthers added running back/fullback Mike Tolbert (another former San Diego player) this offseason.
That backfield could be even better if the Panthers sprinkled in a few carries and a few catches per game for a speed back like Smith.
Pat Yasinskas | email
NFL- ESPN NFC South Blogger
- Joined ESPN in 2008
- Began his journalism career with The Tampa Tribune in 1990
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Pat Yasinskas
Yasinskas joined ESPN.com in January 2008 after covering the Carolina Panthers for The Charlotte Observer for nine seasons. He began his journalism career with The Tampa Tribune in 1990.
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