The Lions are saying nice things about Ameer Abdullah. They're more than just paying lip service to him, too, considering they didn't add a noteworthy running back in either free agency or the draft. To hear running backs coach David Walker talk, they're fully committed to the youngster.
"Ameer's our guy," says Walker. "Theo [Riddick] has his role, and then the other guys, they got to kind of fit where they fit and that’s how we’ll go."
The problem is that Abdullah will need to make his fantasy impact without getting any chances in the passing game (that will be Riddick). He'll probably give way to a bigger back near the goal line, preventing him from scoring a lot of touchdowns.
And there's the simple reality that he's playing in an offense that doesn't run the ball often or well.
A year ago, no team had fewer rushing attempts than Detroit. Only two teams had fewer rushing yards, and only four had fewer touchdowns.
NFL TEAM RUSHING, 2016 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Att | Rk | Yards | Rk | TD | Rk |
Buffalo Bills | 492 | 2 | 2,630 | 1 | 29 | 1 |
Dallas Cowboys | 499 | 1 | 2,396 | 2 | 24 | 2 |
Tennessee Titans | 476 | 4 | 2,187 | 3 | 16 | 10T |
San Francisco 49ers | 458 | 5 | 2,019 | 4 | 15 | 13T |
Atlanta Falcons | 421 | 12 | 1,928 | 5 | 20 | 3T |
Oakland Raiders | 434 | 11 | 1,922 | 6 | 17 | 6T |
New England Patriots | 482 | 3 | 1,872 | 7 | 19 | 5 |
Houston Texans | 456 | 6 | 1,859 | 8 | 8 | 29T |
Miami Dolphins | 405 | 18 | 1,824 | 9 | 14 | 15 |
Carolina Panthers | 453 | 7T | 1,814 | 10 | 16 | 10T |
Philadelphia Eagles | 438 | 10 | 1,813 | 11 | 16 | 10T |
New York Jets | 418 | 13 | 1,802 | 12 | 10 | 22T |
Cincinnati Bengals | 446 | 9 | 1,769 | 13 | 17 | 6T |
Pittsburgh Steelers | 409 | 16T | 1,760 | 14 | 13 | 16T |
Kansas City | 412 | 14 | 1,748 | 15 | 15 | 13T |
New Orleans Saints | 404 | 19 | 1,742 | 16 | 17 | 6T |
Chicago Bears | 380 | 25T | 1,735 | 17 | 10 | 22T |
Arizona Cardinals | 399 | 21 | 1,732 | 18 | 20 | 3T |
Cleveland Browns | 350 | 31T | 1,712 | 19 | 13 | 16T |
Green Bay Packers | 374 | 29 | 1,701 | 20 | 11 | 20T |
Washington | 379 | 27 | 1,696 | 21 | 17 | 6T |
Jacksonville Jaguars | 392 | 24 | 1,631 | 22 | 8 | 29T |
Indianapolis Colts | 409 | 16T | 1,628 | 23 | 13 | 16T |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 453 | 7T | 1,616 | 24 | 8 | 29T |
Seattle Seahawks | 403 | 20 | 1,591 | 25 | 13 | 16T |
San Diego Chargers | 398 | 22T | 1,510 | 26 | 10 | 22T |
Denver Broncos | 410 | 15 | 1,484 | 27 | 11 | 20T |
Baltimore Ravens | 367 | 30 | 1,463 | 28 | 10 | 22T |
New York Giants | 398 | 22T | 1,412 | 29 | 6 | 32 |
Detroit Lions | 350 | 31T | 1,310 | 30 | 9 | 26T |
Los Angeles Rams | 375 | 28 | 1,252 | 31 | 9 | 26T |
Minnesota Vikings | 380 | 25T | 1,205 | 32 | 9 | 26T |
--Andy Richardson