The Lions backfield is a tough one to gauge for fantasy purposes. Joique Bell is in line to start, but Bell, coming off knee and Achilles injury, hasn't gotten on the field yet in the preseason. That's led to opportunities, and hype, for second-round pick Ameer Abdullah.
Well, Abdullah made his case that the hype is warranted in last night's exhibition. The highlight was a play where he took a pitch in the backfield, stutter-stepped a defender out of his shoes, then burst through a hole for a 45-yard gain. He had another, shorter carry where he did the same thing to another defender. They were the kind of plays nobody on the Lions has delivered in a number of years, since another undersized back named Barry Sanders, really.
Kooky talk comparison, of course, but Jets coach Todd Bowles went there after the game. "He's quick as a cat...about as quick as Barry Sanders," said Bowles.
There's a lot of preseason left, but Abdullah's debut is clearly going to push him up a lot of draft boards. The question will become how high is too high? Abdullah looks electric, but he's also likely to be the No. 2 running back on a poor running team.
Bell has been working on the side and should return to practice this week. (One guesses he might be anxious to get on the field at this point.) Over the next couple of exhibitions, we should get a better idea of how these players will be used. A while back beat writer Tim Twentyman predicted an even timeshare for the two.
It's early, but Abdullah hasn't done anything to dispute the thought that he's going to be an exciting rookie performer right out of the gate.
--Andy Richardson
