2010's Deep Sleeper Running Backs

LaRod Stephens-Howling, Arizona Cardinals

The second-year back out of Pitt caught three passes in the shootout playoff win over Green Bay. He's buried in the Cardinals depth chart behind Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower, but could see an increased workload, especially in the passing game.

Jalen Parmele, Baltimore Ravens

If Ray Rice or Willis McGahee were to go down, Parmele could step in. He has the size (5'11, 220 lbs) and speed to take over as either the lead back or the goal line guy.

Bernard Scott, Cincinnati Bengals

Scott isn't quiet as deep a sleeper after combining for 206 yards in Week 11 & 12 last year. If Benson went down, Scott would be a very hot commodity.

James Davis, Cleveland Browns

Davis was a sleeper last year, but never really got his shot after tearing his labrum. He's behind Jerome Harrison and rookie Montario Hardesty, but could get a shot if there were issues in Cleveland.

Deji Karim, Jacksonville Jaguars

With Maurice Jones-Drew  leading the Jaguars' attack, Karim might not get much run, especially with Rashad Jennings ahead of him on the depth chart. If MoJo did go down, it would take a committee to replace him, and Karim would certainly be included.

Albert Young, Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings would likely call on rookie Toby Gerhart if Adrian Peterson went down, but Young would be in the mix. He could also serve as the third-down back, which afforded Chester Taylor decent numbers last year.

Lynell Hamilton, New Orleans Saints

With Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush ahead of him on the depth Willis McGahee chart, Hamilton may not get many carries. That said, both PT and Bush have dealt with injuries in the past. Hamilton could fill the Mike Bell role.

Andre Brown, New York Giants

Brown's 2009 season was lost to an Achilles injury, but if healthy, he could be in the mix this year. Brandon Jacobs is far from durable, which could speed the process up.

Jonathan Dwyer, Pittsburgh Steelers

First Dwyer will have to prove he can stay healthy. If he can, he could get a few carries.

 All things considered, Steelers safety Ryan Clark would have preferred to be on the beach.

Certainly, Clark's wife, Yonka, would rather have listened to the soothing sounds of the ocean lapping against the shoreline than to the gruesome presentation linking football to brain injuries.

"It was definitely scary for her," Clark said last week at Steelers training camp. He's one of the team's player reps and took his wife on the trip.

"I think she understands the risks we take as players," Clark said. "We're off from January until June. Obviously, it's a great living. Anything this good has to have a downside. I tell her, 'I'll be an accountant, but you'll have to work.' "

Clark grinned, but he knows there's nothing funny about football-related Willis McGahee brain damage. It's no longer the NFL's dirty little secret. Around here, we know former Pitt All-American and Steelers No. 1 pick Paul Martha, 68, is in an assisted-living facility in St. Louis with dementia, the result, he says, from at least 10 concussions as a player. We also have read the stories of former Steelers Mike Webster, Terry Long and Justin Strzelczyk dying young with brain disease. Then in June, word came that Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, who died in December at 26 after a fall from a moving vehicle, had brain disease consistent with that of a man 80 or 90.

Clark seemed like the right guy to ask about all of it. If linebacker James Harrison isn't the Steelers' hardest hitter, Clark is. His fierce hits on New England's Wes Welker and Baltimore's Willis McGahee were among the more memorable moments from the Steelers' 2008 Super Bowl season.

So what does it feel like to hurtle your body at full force into another man going just as hard in the opposite direction when you know there's a pretty good chance that one, if not both, of you won't get up?

"You don't think about it. You can't think about it," Clark said. "Never once have I gone on the football field and thought that this might be my last game or that the next play could be it for me. You can't play that way. You just play."

I'm thinking there are three reasons -- besides the chance to make out-of-this-world money -- that NFL players use to justify getting out of bed in the morning to play their brutal game despite the increasing evidence about brain injuries. Clark touched on all three.

• "Nothing's going to happen to me. The bad stuff happens to such-and-such. Not me."

• "I never think about what I'll be like when I'm 60. You never think about being that old. I might tell my accountant how much money I want to have when I'm 60, but I don't think about what my quality of life will be then."

• "I put my faith in God. I'm going to be OK."

That about covers it, wouldn't you agree?

Clark, like all players, is glad the NFL is taking aggressive steps to educate its players about the long-term dangers of head injuries. A new poster will be in every team's locker room this season warning about potential memory loss, personality changes, depression and early dementia. "Concussions and conditions resulting from repeated brain injury can change your life and your family's life forever." It is a startling admission by league officials, perhaps driven by fear of future litigation. In the not-too-distant past, they have tried to separate their game from any responsibility for their players' brain damage.