Detroit Lions: Theo Riddick worth watching vs. Raiders

The Detroit Lions backfield has been almost impossible to figure out lately, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that preseason rookie sensation Ameer Abdullah has yielded the starting gig to veteran Joique Bell.

While Bell struggled mightily in last week’s gritty win over the rival Green Bay Packers on the road, he’s significantly out-snapped Abdullah, meaning that Theo Riddick has been the only Lions RB with a consistent role throughout the season.

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Of course, Riddick’s role has unsurprisingly involved little of him in the ground game, as the 24-year-old has never carried the ball more than seven times in a game this season. But maybe only superstar wideout Calvin Johnson has been a more reliable part of the passing attack this season, as Riddick has caught 45 passes this season. Not only is that second on the team behind Golden Tate, but he’s also catching an insane 80.4% of everything thrown at him.

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With Eric Ebron showing promise but having continued issues with drops, Riddick is the offense’s safety valve from a passing standpoint. He only nets 8.3 yards per reception and is a non-factor when running the football (3.2 yards per carry compared to Abdullah’s team-high 3.5 mark), but he hauls in an average of exactly five passes per game.

Matthew Stafford has come to trust Riddick has a major part of the offense, and he often doesn’t have time to look for anyone else due to the putrid play of the offensive line in front of him. On Sunday, Stafford will avoid having to face Aldon Smith on the Oakland Raiders defense, but he’ll still have to deal with pressure from the even better Khalil Mack, who has continued his scorching rookie pace.

The Raiders don’t have a fearsome pass rush like, say, Green Bay’s, but we should still see plenty of targets headed in Riddick’s direction. According to Football Outsiders’s DVOA, the Raiders are one of the NFL’s worst teams at covering running backs, and they actually allow 50.5 receiving yards per game to RBs.

Teams like the Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Atlanta Falcons are cursed with below-average coverage linebackers who are often a step too slow, and the Raiders can be lumped in that group. They will miss the underrated Neiron Ball for another week, and it’s an injury that’s flown under-the-radar. Ball went down just as he was starting to establish himself as an intriguing role player for the Raiders defense, and he’s undoubtedly their best coverage LB.

With Ball out, the Raiders haven’t found a way to replace him, and veteran Curtis Lofton is someone offenses can pick on in coverage. Malcolm Smith is a solid player, but he isn’t enough of a difference-maker to scare off pass-catching backs, particularly somebody with Riddick’s excellent hands and quickness and agility.

Few backs do a better job of helping an offense move the ball through the air than Riddick, who has only built on his promising 34/316/4 line in what was a promising 2014 season. That was the first year the Lions entrusted him with a real role in the offense, and, well, his importance has only increased.

Nov 15, 2015; Green Bay, WI, USA; Detroit Lions running back Theo Riddick (25) during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Detroit won 18-16. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Bell could hoard touches again, and maybe the Lions will give Abdullah some run on the ground after he barely saw the field against the Packers.

The only constant in the Lions backfield is the fact that Riddick will be used frequently in the passing game, as he hasn’t caught less than three passes in a game since putting up 37 yards and a TD on two catches against the Chargers in Week 1.

He hasn’t hit 50 receiving yards since back-to-back 50-yard performances in Week 5 and 6, so he’s probably not going to go off either.

Sleeper hype has been focused on Golden Tate this week, and a healthy Megatron seems like a safe bet to shine against an Oakland defense that surrenders the sixth-most points per game.

Riddick isn’t exactly a prime fantasy play, but Lions fans should be especially interested in seeing how both he and the team exploit what appears to be a mis-match on the field.

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Five receptions should be a reasonable expectation for Riddick, and it would be unwise for the Lions to avoid getting the ball into his hands, unless if Megatron and Tate truly do feast on the Raiders secondary.

If they can’t, most throws to Riddick are of the high-percentage variety, and perhaps he can get something going after the catch. Only Devonta Freeman has more catches among RBs this season, so this is something to chew on before Sunday afternoon’s contest.

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