DeAngelo Williams isn’t going to lie to you. Suggesting he and All Pro running back Le’Veon Bell do not make up the vast majority of the best backfields in the NFL would be an insult, in his mind.

The talent and the career production are both there. But the reason he’s giving them that distinction is because he owes it to them.

“We are one of the best backfields, if not the best backfield, in the National Football League,” Williams told Tribune Review reporter Mark Kaboly Thursday. “For us to think otherwise, it would be a shot at what we do and how we work here. I think that is the goal of all 32 teams in the National Football League. For me to stand here and say anything different would be a lie.”

Anything less than the best is wrong. Williams intends to back up those words, just like probably a dozen other running backs who will say something similar do. For Williams, he’ll have two different versions of seasons; one in which he’s playing, and one in which he’s hopefully not playing.

Bell will miss the first three games of the 2015 season with a suspension for a DUI and marijuana possession arrest last year. Williams is expected to be the team’s primary rusher in those games – at New England, vs. San Francisco and at St. Louis. Bell is scheduled to return for a short week game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4.

At that point, Williams likely casts off his hero’s cape and prepares to play the role of the supportive back-up. Maybe he gets a carry or two here and there, but his highest and best use will be to prepare as if the team needs him, even if it doesn’t.

His success in those moments will be what defines his preseason statement from Thursday.