David Bailey: The Perfect Backup For AJ Dillon

The sophomore has stepped up this year, and has showed a lot.

One of the biggest fears amongst BC fans is the health of star running back AJ Dillon. The 250 pound back can take a licking but as we saw last year that physical style of running can take a toll on him, and puts him at a high risk to get banged up or injured. At the beginning of the year Steve Addazio talked about taking care of Dillon this year by keeping an eye on his touches and using some of his backups. After his injury last year we saw a trio of backs play this role, Ben Glines had a big game against NC State, Travis Levy tore up Virginia Tech and David Bailey bashed Louisville. 

This year the backup situation is crystal clear. David Bailey, who came to camp slimmed down has shown that he can be a complete back and ready to take over the starting role. He has run the ball about 40% of the designed running back plays, and has half the touches AJ Dillon has while rushing for over 5 yards a carry. He is still a bruising back, very much in the same vein as Dillon, the type that has been Addazio's bread and butter. But what has struck me this year has been his very good speed which we saw on display last week when he took a run 42 yards to the end zone against Rutgers this week

13:12 left in Q1: BC 7 Rutgers 0. Following a screen pass to Zay Flowers, David Bailey side steps to the left before surging through the left side for an untouched 42-yard touchdown.

That's Bailey's second scoring play of the season. BC recorded 70 rushing yards on that drive. pic.twitter.com/hTfUMG5PH7

— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) September 21, 2019

Bailey has had a handful of big plays, and you can see why he is such a dynamic back by looking at his highlight reel on WePlayed. You can see the difference a year makes in his play. Last year a lot of his highlights were just Bailey lowering his shoulder and using his strength to get past defenders, but more recently he's able to avoid the hits and use his deceptively good speed to get to the next level. If AJ Dillon ever has to miss time, god forbid, BC should be in good hands, and clearly Bailey is ready to become the starting back if Dillon heads to the NFL next year. 

Sign Up For the Sports Illustrated's BC Maven Newsletter: You want all the latest BC news delivered right to your mailbox right? All you have to do is click here and enter your email!

And you know who else would agree? AJ Dillon, who had a lot of positive things to see about his backfield mate this week: