Cam Lewis earned ESPN recognition as one of the NFL's best backup safeties

Chicago Bears safety Cam Lewis is one of the best backups in the NFL. Bill Barnwell of ESPN created the All-Backup team, featuring at least one backup from every team to fill out an All-Backup roster. Cam Lewis was the Bears representative at safety. 

Chicago Bears safety Cam Lewis was recognized as one of the NFL's top backups by ESPN.

Barnwell noted versatility as a key reason for the decision. 

Lewis offers our roster some versatility on the back end, as he can play safety or line up as a slot cornerback. We might need to use some disguised coverages to make up for our lack of cover corners. And considering the Bears are one of the only teams carrying two long-snappers on their roster at the moment, we have to grab Gardner to get one for Team Backup.Cam Lewis

Lewis has been with the Buffalo Bills since 2019, when he was signed as a UDFA. He has 1,514 defensive snaps since 2020, when he first made the team. Of those, 828 were at safety, and 686 were at cornerback. 

Just last year, he had 167 snaps in the slot compared to 269 snaps at safety. This is valuable for the Bears, who are playing a rookie at safety this year. They also have an injury prone cornerback starting in the slot right now. 

So, if anything happens to either of them, they can lean on Lewis. That gives the Bears valuable flexibility throughout the season. Rather than carrying multiple specialists, they have one veteran who can step into several different roles without changing the overall structure of the defense. It is also valuable to the All-Backup team, as the key piece to being a depth asset is being able to fill multiple roles. 

That makes it easier to get included on any team, and his role as a depth safety is one of the most valuable in the NFL. 

The other safeties include Jalen Huskey, P.J. Locke, and Marques Sigle. Locke has the most starting experience of this group, and he has a chance to see the field in subpackage roles for the Dallas Cowboys. 

However, Huskey is a rookie for the Jaguars who has never played. He made the team because Jacksonville did not have a better option and because he might be competing to start as a third-round rookie. 

Sigle was a fifth-round rookie. However, while he got on the field as a starter in the first week of his NFL career, he was also benched after Week 6. He did not start from that point on, and now his role on the 49ers is in question. 

So, the safety room is not strong. There is a good argument to be made that Lewis is the best depth safety in the NFL at this point. Experience and versatility go a long way, and not many teams have that after their top two.

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This article was originally published on dawindycity.com as Cam Lewis earned ESPN recognition as one of the NFL's best backup safeties.