I don’t think there necessarily will be a “winner” in Detroit’s backfield. They’ve got a bunch of running backs, and I think they’re going to use multiple backs in every game.
They drafted D’Andre Swift early in the second round, of course. But they also have another recent second-round pick on the roster – Kerryon Johnson. And there probably will be a role for Bo Scarbrough, who wasn’t drafted at all but has better ability than those backs to slam between the tackles.
Other backs might get on the field as well. They drafted Ty Johnson last year, and they used a later-round pick on Jason Huntley.
Kerryon Johnson sounds like he doesn’t have any issues with a committee approach. “Look, I knew we were going to draft a running back eventually,” he says in an article on mlive.com.. “I think we got, in my opinion, definitely one of the top two (in the draft). I love having a running back. I love winning games and I think he can help us do that, so I wasn’t tripping at all.”
As an early second-round pick, Swift probably will be the first Detroit running back chosen in fantasy drafts, but to me, he looks pretty similar to Kerryon Johnson. And with the Lions being a modest team using a committee approach, I’m not confident that either of them will put up good numbers.
In the last 10 years, Detroit has used four second-round picks on running backs, but it hasn’t yet gotten an 800-yard season out of any of them. Using PPR scoring, only one of those backs has had top-30 season (Mikel Leshoure was the 18th-best back in 2012).
Here’s the list showing all running backs chosen in the second round in the last 10 years. The numbers you see aren’t their rookie-year numbers, but the stats from their best pro season.
BEST SEASONS BY SECOND-ROUND RUNNINB BACKS | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Run | Rec | Total | TD | PPR | Rk |
2014 | LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 1,361 | 854 | 2,215 | 11 | 370.5 | 1 |
2019 | Derrick Henry, Ten. | 1,540 | 206 | 1,746 | 18 | 300.6 | 5 |
2019 | Dalvin Cook, Min. | 1,135 | 519 | 1,654 | 13 | 296.4 | 6 |
2014 | Eddie Lacy, G.B. | 1,139 | 427 | 1,566 | 13 | 276.6 | 6 |
2019 | Nick Chubb, Cle. | 1,494 | 278 | 1,772 | 8 | 261.2 | 8 |
2018 | Joe Mixon, Cin. | 1,168 | 296 | 1,464 | 9 | 243.4 | 10 |
2017 | Carlos Hyde, S.F. | 938 | 350 | 1,288 | 8 | 235.8 | 8 |
2013 | Giovani Bernard, Cin. | 695 | 514 | 1,209 | 8 | 224.9 | 13 |
2019 | Miles Sanders, Phil. | 818 | 509 | 1,327 | 6 | 220.7 | 15 |
2014 | Jeremy Hill, Cin. | 1,124 | 215 | 1,339 | 9 | 214.9 | 10 |
2012 | Mikel Leshoure, Det. | 798 | 214 | 1,012 | 9 | 189.2 | 18 |
2018 | T.J. Yeldon, Jac. | 414 | 487 | 901 | 5 | 175.1 | 22 |
2019 | Ronald Jones, T.B. | 724 | 309 | 1,033 | 6 | 170.3 | 25 |
2014 | Shane Vereen, N.E. | 391 | 447 | 838 | 5 | 165.8 | 20 |
2013 | Ben Tate, Hou. | 771 | 140 | 911 | 4 | 149.1 | 30 |
2011 | Dexter McCluster, K.C. | 516 | 328 | 844 | 2 | 142.4 | 31 |
2018 | Kerryon Johnson, Det. | 641 | 213 | 854 | 4 | 141.4 | 33 |
2016 | Christine Michael, Sea.-G.B. | 583 | 107 | 690 | 8 | 139.0 | 35 |
2017 | Ameer Abdullah, Det. | 552 | 162 | 714 | 5 | 126.4 | 40 |
2011 | Toby Gerhart, Min. | 531 | 190 | 721 | 4 | 119.1 | 39 |
2013 | Montee Ball, Den. | 559 | 145 | 704 | 4 | 114.4 | 43 |
2014 | Bishop Sankey, Ten. | 569 | 133 | 702 | 2 | 100.2 | 44 |
2013 | Daniel Thomas, Mia. | 406 | 63 | 469 | 6 | 97.9 | 51 |
2019 | Derrius Guice, Was. | 245 | 79 | 324 | 3 | 57.4 | 69 |
2011 | Montario Hardesty, Cle. | 266 | 122 | 388 | 0 | 52.8 | 74 |
2012 | Ryan Williams, Ariz. | 164 | 44 | 208 | 0 | 27.8 | 101 |
2013 | Isaiah Pead, St.L. | 21 | 78 | 99 | 0 | 22.9 | 108 |
2012 | LaMichael James, S.F. | 125 | 29 | 154 | 0 | 18.4 | 116 |
2020 | • D'Andre Swift, Det. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
2020 | • Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
2020 | • Cam Akers, LAR | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
2020 | • J.K. Dobbins, Balt. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
2020 | • A.J. Dillon, G.B. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan