Darrell Henderson is the Rams' feature running back, and has a great matchup this week with the Lions, who rank just 26th in run defense. But Henderson looks even better when you factor in his receiving potential, with what the Lions have neglected to do against running backs in that area.
Henderson isn't Christian McCaffrey, but he's caught 12 passes for 119 yards and 1 TD, with that score coming last week, in five games. Change-of-pace Sony Michel has caught 4 passes, but 3 of those came in the game Henderson missed. So Henderson should be the main receiving back on this team, and matchups don't get much better than Detroit in that regard.
Maybe the Lions aren't aware that running backs need to be accounted for coming out of the backfield as receivers? Since the start of last season, running backs have caught 16 touchdowns in 22 games against the Lions: 10 last year (at least twice as many as all but one team), and 6 this year (also at least twice as many as all but one team). That's 10 more than every team but Washington and Green Bay over that span.
| TD RECEPTIONS ALLOWED TO RBS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | 2020 | 2021 | Total |
| Detroit | 10 | 6 | 16 |
| Washington | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Green Bay | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Arizona | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Baltimore | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Kansas City | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Las Vegas | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| NY Giants | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Seattle | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Tampa Bay | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Atlanta | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Cincinnati | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Indianapolis | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| LA Chargers | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Tennessee | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Jacksonville | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| LA Rams | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| San Francisco | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Carolina | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Cleveland | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Denver | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Houston | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Miami | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| New Orleans | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| NY Jets | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Buffalo | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| New England | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Philadelphia | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Pittsburgh | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Chicago | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Dallas | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 1 | 0 | 1 |
--Andy Richardson