Kerryon Johnson will miss this week with a knee injury; he might be out multiple games. That leaves the Lions with just third-down back Theo Riddick and short-yardage guy LeGarrette Blount. A shame they recently released Ameer Abdullah. But the Lions say they're confident in Zach Zenner.
Detroit actually released Zenner with an injury settlement in August, but he's back on the roster. "He’s done a great job since he’s been back," Lions head coach Matt Patricia said of Zenner. “He’s done a lot out at practice that we feel very confident with him out there. I think he’s a great example of a guy that’s just – he’s such a professional. He’s just always ready to go."
Zenner didn't play much last season, though he did in the 2016 season. Dipping into the stat files, there's a hint as to why he hasn't gotten much work since then. (And also why Theo Riddick doesn't carry it much any more.)
Back in 2016, 69 different running backs had at least 50 rushing attempts. Zenner was stuffed (gaining no yardage, or losing yardage) on nearly 16 percent of those carries. Only three backs were stuffed on a higher percentage of their carries that season: James Starks, Doug Martin and Riddick.
| RUNNING BACK STUFFS, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Stuff | Pct | Att/Stf |
| Theo Riddick | 92 | 17 | 18.5% | 5.4 |
| James Starks | 63 | 11 | 17.5% | 5.7 |
| Doug Martin | 144 | 23 | 16.0% | 6.3 |
| Zach Zenner | 88 | 14 | 15.9% | 6.3 |
| LeSean McCoy | 234 | 36 | 15.4% | 6.5 |
| Duke Johnson Jr. | 73 | 11 | 15.1% | 6.6 |
| Justin Forsett | 87 | 13 | 14.9% | 6.7 |
| Kenneth Dixon | 88 | 13 | 14.8% | 6.8 |
| Thomas Rawls | 109 | 16 | 14.7% | 6.8 |
| Isaiah Crowell | 198 | 29 | 14.6% | 6.8 |
| Devonta Freeman | 227 | 33 | 14.5% | 6.9 |
| Jerick McKinnon | 159 | 23 | 14.5% | 6.9 |
| Wendell Smallwood | 77 | 11 | 14.3% | 7.0 |
| Jay Ajayi | 260 | 37 | 14.2% | 7.0 |
| Charles Sims | 51 | 7 | 13.7% | 7.3 |
| Charcandrick West | 88 | 12 | 13.6% | 7.3 |
| Chris Ivory | 117 | 16 | 13.6% | 7.3 |
| Christine Michael | 148 | 20 | 13.5% | 7.4 |
| Kenneth Farrow | 60 | 8 | 13.3% | 7.5 |
| Jacquizz Rodgers | 129 | 17 | 13.2% | 7.6 |
| T.J. Yeldon | 130 | 17 | 13.1% | 7.6 |
| Melvin Gordon | 254 | 33 | 13.0% | 7.7 |
| Carlos Hyde | 217 | 28 | 12.9% | 7.8 |
| Darren Sproles | 94 | 12 | 12.8% | 7.8 |
| Shaun Draughn | 74 | 9 | 12.2% | 8.2 |
| Todd Gurley | 278 | 33 | 11.9% | 8.4 |
| Ryan Mathews | 155 | 18 | 11.6% | 8.6 |
| LeGarrette Blount | 299 | 34 | 11.4% | 8.8 |
| Jeremy Langford | 62 | 7 | 11.3% | 8.9 |
| DeMarco Murray | 293 | 33 | 11.3% | 8.9 |
| C.J. Anderson | 110 | 12 | 10.9% | 9.2 |
| Terrance West | 193 | 21 | 10.9% | 9.2 |
| Jonathan Stewart | 218 | 23 | 10.6% | 9.5 |
| Matt Forte | 218 | 23 | 10.6% | 9.5 |
| Rashad Jennings | 181 | 19 | 10.5% | 9.5 |
| Ty Montgomery | 77 | 8 | 10.4% | 9.6 |
| Matt Jones | 99 | 10 | 10.1% | 9.9 |
| Dwayne Washington | 90 | 9 | 10.0% | 10.0 |
| David Johnson | 293 | 29 | 9.9% | 10.1 |
| Rob Kelley | 168 | 16 | 9.5% | 10.5 |
| Jeremy Hill | 222 | 21 | 9.5% | 10.6 |
| Rex Burkhead | 74 | 7 | 9.5% | 10.6 |
| Tevin Coleman | 118 | 11 | 9.3% | 10.7 |
| Devontae Booker | 174 | 16 | 9.2% | 10.9 |
| Alfred Morris | 69 | 6 | 8.7% | 11.5 |
| Eddie Lacy | 71 | 6 | 8.5% | 11.8 |
| Bilal Powell | 131 | 11 | 8.4% | 11.9 |
| Jordan Howard | 252 | 21 | 8.3% | 12.0 |
| Lamar Miller | 268 | 21 | 7.8% | 12.8 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 322 | 25 | 7.8% | 12.9 |
| Derrick Henry | 110 | 8 | 7.3% | 13.8 |
| Jalen Richard | 83 | 6 | 7.2% | 13.8 |
| Latavius Murray | 195 | 14 | 7.2% | 13.9 |
| DeAngelo Williams | 98 | 7 | 7.1% | 14.0 |
| Fozzy Whittaker | 57 | 4 | 7.0% | 14.3 |
| Spencer Ware | 214 | 15 | 7.0% | 14.3 |
| Mike Gillislee | 101 | 7 | 6.9% | 14.4 |
| Mark Ingram | 205 | 14 | 6.8% | 14.6 |
| Tim Hightower | 133 | 9 | 6.8% | 14.8 |
| Matt Asiata | 121 | 8 | 6.6% | 15.1 |
| Giovani Bernard | 91 | 6 | 6.6% | 15.2 |
| Dion Lewis | 64 | 4 | 6.3% | 16.0 |
| Alfred Blue | 100 | 6 | 6.0% | 16.7 |
| DeAndre Washington | 87 | 5 | 5.7% | 17.4 |
| Peyton Barber | 55 | 3 | 5.5% | 18.3 |
| Frank Gore | 263 | 14 | 5.3% | 18.8 |
| LeVeon Bell | 261 | 13 | 5.0% | 20.1 |
| Paul Perkins | 112 | 5 | 4.5% | 22.4 |
| Chris Thompson | 68 | 3 | 4.4% | 22.7 |
Maybe Zenner ends up being a better runner than either Blount or Riddick. But he's unlikely to do much against the Bears tomorrow, and probably won't do much until Johnson returns.
--Andy Richardson