Kerryon Johnson has been a stud for the Lions when healthy
Amani Oruwariye Jersey Womens , but with an uncertain RB room in 2020, the team may start looking ahead." NFL Draft2020 NFL Draft Watch: 10 running backs for the
Detroit LionsNew,21commentsKerryon Johnson has been a stud for the Lions when
healthy, but with an uncertain RB room in 2020, the team may start looking
ahead.EDTI’m not going to pretend that I had predicted that Kerryon Johnson was
going to be the Lions’ second-round pick in 2018. His fit in the offense was
clear, and both myself and PFF’s Brett Whitefield predicted that he would be on
the Lions roster at some point during the draft. While I loved Johnson the
player at Auburn, his style and durability were concerns that raised the risk
higher than an acceptable level for me in the second round. In 2018, he looked
exactly like his scouting report: powerful, explosive, and difficult to tackle.
He rushed for more than 5.0 yards per carry in six of his 10 games last season.
He also ended the season on injured reserve, calling back to those durability
concerns.The Lions went out and got Johnson a running mate in LeGarrette Blount
in 2018, but found a superior partner in C.J. Anderson for the current season.
That should help lighten the load and keep Johnson fresh, but the team will have
to start planning if the durability concerns become more the rule than the
exception. Even if Johnson is able to remain healthy, the team should be looking
past Anderson for a youthful complement going forward. The 2019 draft class
wasn’t very good at running back, but the 2020 class looks to have quite a bit
more talent.D’Andre Swift, Georgia Many Lions fans were turned off to the
shifty, phone booth type of elusive running back after the failures of Reggie
Bush and Ameer Abdullah in Detroit and the success relative to that with Kerryon
Johnson’s style. The concept of seeing a rusher explode to the line, then stop
in place, then dance a short jig before attempting to move laterally at the line
was maddening. In the build up to the past couple drafts, any time such a back
was mentioned, comments were flooded with “Oh, not this again” and I kind OF get
it. Just don’t let you fool yourself into thinking every player who’s shifty and
quick is somehow that level of player. You’ve still got prospects with LeSean
McCoy potential out there.D’Andre Swift is one of those guys, a player who can
make you miss and explode in whichever direction you aren’t. He can make you
think he’s going left, only to go left, after fooling you into thinking you he’s
going right. He can also catch passes out of the backfield and showed enough as
a route runner to split if needed. With how the NFL is developing offensively,
Swift is a nearly perfect prospect to take up the reigns of RB1A/B for an
offense looking to keep their play calling dynamic and their opposing defenses
guessing. Travis Etienne, Clemson One of my fondest football memories was
watching highlights of Ed Reed. You’d see the play start, the QB drop back, and
then he’d throw. The angle would change on the broadcast and you’d see it in
slow motion. The receiver leaping vertically, arms slowly extending. You’d see
his eyes on the ball, his hands adjusting to the trajectory in the air. The
cornerback, having been beaten, attempting to get his arm up into the path of
the ball. Then
Youth Amani Oruwariye Jersey , despite the slow motion broadcast, Ed Reed bursts into frame at full speed, plucking the ball out of the air like that
scene in X-men with Quicksilver or literally any movie about stopping
time.Travis Etienne is a lot like that. His full speed isn’t fair and if the
NCAA wasn’t already profiting off of his likeness they would likely be trying to
find a way to fine him. When he’s gassed after a long drive, he jogs at speeds
that would likely make Al Davis blush. If the Lions are looking for a speed
complement to Kerryon Johnson, he’d be it. Even better, Etienne can run in a
power scheme as well as zone, because you can gain a lot of ground with just a
tiny crease when you’re that fast and explosive.Jonathan Taylor,
WisconsinAnother year, another supremely productive running back from Wisconsin.
Taylor has been a monster workhorse for the Badgers, posting this absurd
statline over two seasons:27 starts606 rushes4,171 yards6.9 yards per carry29
touchdownsI mean, criminetly. Taylor is a thickly-built rusher who has probably
maxed out his frame. His athleticism is adequate, if not overly impressive.
Taylor is a decisive, if not dynamic runner who will go where he’s supposed to
go, hit who he’s supposed to hit, and get what he’s supposed to get. He’s the
fat guy from the old Monty Python sketch in that he’s going to eat everything
you’ve got, right down to the smallest of wafer thin mints.Ke’Shawn Vaughn,
Vanderbilt One of the traits that made Kerryon Johnson immediately successful in
the NFL was his decisiveness at the line. Another was his ability to take
advantage of that decisiveness, bursting through the first hole he sees and
taking the ball for a good gain. It’s part of why his fit in the Lions offense
was so apparent. Those types of traits, the ability to see a hole and hit it
like a ton of bricks, are valuable in any offense, but was something lacking in
the Lions backfield prior to Johnson’s selection.Vanderbilt’s Ke’Shawn Vaughn
possesses the same type of style and the same kind of aggressiveness as a ball
carrier. Athletic enough to burst through any crease and fast enough to take it
to the house with any carry, Vaughn would allow the Lions to build on the
progress they made in the running game with Kerryon Johnson and seriously
threaten any defense on the ground.Eno Benjamin, Arizona State As a big
proponent for athletic testing, you’d probably expect me to overlook guys who
aren’t expected to test very well. Believe it or not, I pay attention to tape,
too, and I can tell when a guy has traits that are worth looking into even if
he’s lacking in some other areas. Granted, I’m probably going to value them
differently, but I’m not ignorant to when a guy looks like he can play.Eno
Benjamin is one such dude. He’s not blazingly fast, nor is he all that
explosive. He has an obvious knack for keeping his feet, though, and he seems to
understand how to make defenders miss both in space and in traffic. His running
style shifts between compact and upright
White Amani Oruwariye Jersey , which might just be his attempt to make up for his lack of speed when he gets into the open field. I think Benjamin is the
prime candidate to get all the Kareem Hunt comparisons during the season since
he’s not a premier athlete but has very good patience. He’d make a strong
addition to a backfield that already has a star and could take on the Robin to
Kerryon Johnson’s Batman role immediately.The OthersJ.K. Dobbins, Ohio
StateThere are a lot of backs in this class that remind me of Ameer Abdullah
(the prospect) as a runner, and Dobbins is another one. He looks like a very
good athlete, showcasing both explosion and agility along with decent pass
catching ability. Worth checking out more in 2019.Cam Akers, Florida StateAkers
stormed onto the scene as the follow up to Dalvin Cook, but his 2018 largely
disappointed. If Akers can bounce back in 2019, I expect to start hearing his
name talked about earlier than where he is now.Kylin Hill, Mississippi StateIn
terms of running angry, Hill has flashes of Kerryon Johnson to his game. In
terms of patience, there’s a lot of Dwayne Washington going on (not a
compliment). Hill seems like his family has been persecuted by defensive backs
and it’s his job to hunt them all down, but whether it’s a lack of agility or
simply calling it good after making a hit, he doesn’t break free as much as he
seems like he has the opportunity to.Trey Sermon, OklahomaSermon is another
elusive type of back, but less in the Shady McCoy type of vein and more in the
Derrick Henry, punch you in the mouth kind of way. He has about as much wiggle
as a bulldozer, but he’s also got that kind of power.Najee Harris,
AlabamaOpinions on Harris seem to be all over the map, similar to Damien Harris
in 2019. Some see him as a top 5 back, others outside the top 10, but he’s an
Alabama back so he’s going to get plenty of work to show if he belongs in 2019.
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Bob Quinn had a lot to answer for during a rare news
conference.The Detroit general manager spoke for over 40 minutes Friday,
recapping a disappointing season in which the Lions went 6-10. A year ago around
this time, Detroit fired coach Jim Caldwell after back-to-back 9-7 campaigns.
Quinn said then he felt the team was capable of more, but the Lions struggled
from the start in 2018 under new coach Matt Patricia.“Disappointing season for
us overall, on the whole. All of us kind of had high expectations going into
this year,” Quinn said. “My position as the general manager here, I’m
accountable, I’m responsible. I put this team together, and I feel like we have
a good team. We didn’t win as much as we should have this year.”Quinn said in no
uncertain terms that he has confidence in quarterback Matthew Stafford, whose
future with Detroit has been the subject of some speculation after he threw for
3,777 yards this season, his lowest total since 2010. Quinn said he feels the
Lions can win a Super Bowl with him.“Matthew Stafford’s our quarterback. He will
be our quarterback here,” Quinn said. “This guy’s a really talented
player
Frank Ragnow Jersey , and myself, the coaches need to put him in better situations.”Stafford turns 31 next month and just finished his 10th season with
the Lions, who drafted him with the first overall pick in 2009. He threw four
interceptions in an opening-game loss to the New York Jets that set the tone for
the season.Quinn takes questions from reporters so infrequently that on Friday
he still faced queries about issues that came up before the start of the season.
In May, the Detroit News reported that Patricia and a friend were indicted 22
years earlier by a Texas grand jury on one count each of aggravated sexual
assault. The accuser did not testify and the case was dismissed.Patricia
maintained his innocence in a news conference after that report. Quinn was at
that news conference but did not speak. On Friday, Quinn said he found out about
the allegations not long before the report.“I first found out about it a couple
days before the article came out,” Quinn said. “Matt had got wind that the
article was going to come out and came and told me. So we had extensive
conversations with myself, ownership (and team president Rod Wood) about
everything.”Quinn said the issue had not come up during a standard background
check during the hiring process, and he indicated such background checks are
beyond his area of expertise.“I’m not paid to do extensive background checks.
I’m here to select a head coach,” Quinn said. “I’m very comfortable with Matt
Patricia as our head coach.”Patricia’s first year was a rocky one for the Lions
on the field and off, and Detroit fans may not have much patience if things
don’t improve quickly in 2019.“He’s very self-aware,” Quinn said. “He has a good
understanding of his strengths, his limitations. He’s going to take this
offseason, as we all do, to look back and say, hey, what can I change? Because
obviously, we’ve got to do better.”Detroit is now in the market for a new
offensive coordinator after deciding not to renew Jim Bob Cooter’s contract .“We
need to do a better job of going into each week, looking at the opponent, and
saying, how are we going to beat this team? They have a great run defense and a
poor pass defense, maybe we throw it 45 times. And vice versa,” Quinn said. “We
want someone that thinks that way. That thinks that, hey, I have an offense, but
my offense is adaptable.”Detroit’s late-October trade that sent Golden Tate to
Philadelphia didn’t help the offense. The Lions were 3-4 at the time and faced
the possibility of losing Tate to free agency. They received a third-round draft
pick for him.“It was just an offer that we really couldn’t refuse, for what the
value was, and for what we had left of the player, which was eight games,” Quinn
said. “We felt we had a balanced offense at that time.”The next big name to
depart could be defensive end Ziggy Ansah, whom the Lions kept this season on
the franchise tag but who played in only seven games because of injury
problems.“Ziggy fought through some things this year,” Quinn said while
remaining noncommittal about Ansah’s future. “Ziggy’s extremely, extremely
tough. I’m proud of him being a Detroit Lion.”
