Detroit Lions: Dion Lewis could fix the running game
The Detroit Lions have a new head coach but may be facing the same old issues. Could a solution to their struggling ground game also come from Foxborough?
It’s start-over time in the Motor City. Head coach Jim Caldwell was dismissed after a season in which the Detroit Lions finished 9-7 but failed to reach the playoffs. Enter Matt Patricia, late of the New England Patriots. The well-regarded defensive specialist inherits a club that reached the postseason in both 2014 and 2016, but failed to win. Of course, you have to go back to 1991 to find the last time the Detroit Lions won a playoff game.
Over the past four seasons, Caldwell managed a respectable 36-28 record. But one of the team’s biggest shortcomings was the lack of offensive balance. Quarterback Matthew Stafford has put up impressive numbers over that span. But the lack of a consistent ground attack has hurt the club in numerous ways.
Since 2014, no team in the NFL has gained fewer yards rushing than the Lions. Detroit has run for less than 100 yards in exactly 75 percent of its 64 regular-season outings over that span. All told, the club ranked 28th, 32nd, 30th and 32nd, respectively, in the league in rushing yards per contest. And the club also failed to hit the century mark on the ground in both playoff losses during that stretch.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
Back to New England. The defending AFC champions have a few decisions to make this offseason in terms of free agency. The team has a deep running backs corps that includes James White, Mike Gillislee and versatile fullback James Develin. It also features Dion Lewis, Rex Burkhead and Brandon Bolden — a trio that could all test free agency on March 14.
If you’re the Lions, Lewis could be the main man in a revamped backfield. And in 2017, he proved he could take on a bigger workload. Early last season, it was not he but Gillislee who was the main running threat for the then-defending Super Bowl champions. The latter totaled seven or fewer attempts in the team’s first five outings. But Lewis became the team’s main ball-carrier and finished with 10 or more carries in all but one of the team’s final 11 contests.
In the final two weeks of the season against the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, he combined for 50 carries and 222 rushing yards to go along with a pair of rushing touchdowns. All told, he ran for 896 yards and six scores on just 180 carries, a solid 5.0 yards per attempt.
Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Full two-round projection
Perhaps the best news for Dion Lewis is that he comes off a season in which he finally played in all 16 games while making a career-best eight starts. The Detroit Lions have some capable running backs in Ameer Abdullah, Zach Zenner and pass-catcher extraordinaire Theo Riddick. But Lewis could aid this club on the ground, something Stafford and the team’s defense could use as well.
Is he capable of at least 250 carries this season? That’s something a Lions players hasn’t managed since 2000.