[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Dude signed a contract. And if he can't beat out a late 5th round pick for the #2 spot, exactly what justification does he have for believing that he'd be a #2 back on a lot of teams? Dude damn sure wouldn't be 'or better' anywhere - he's not a starting caliber back anywhere. Even the bucs have a better situation with Peyton Barber and that cat sucks.

You're simultaneously overvaluing him (he won't settle for being a backup) and undervaluing him (we don't need a 'heavy' back). If he can truly be a '#2 or better back on a lot of other teams' then why the hell wouldn't we want to keep him here?

If he ends up a #3 back for short yardage use who's in line for the heavy workload if the starter goes down, that's probably about where he should be. He's being paid a little more than I'd like for that gig so if Williams can unseat him, that's fine - I just don't know why we should expect that he will, Williams hasn't been all that great.

As for Sherman, he's a break glass in an emergency guy, IMO - a fun novelty but not someone you should be giving a key short yardage carry to unless it's a misdirection sort of handoff to the up-back. Hyde's a better runner than Sherman by a fair amount. And if (when) Damien Williams misses a game or two, I still don't know that you want Thompson just taking the lead role and you damn sure shouldn't have Sherman doing it. So you'll be awfully glad to have Hyde then even if it's just to take 12-14 carries and keep Thompson fresh for his 8-10 touches.

I agree with most all of this, but Reid has no issue playing a rookie as his starter at RB.