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The Detroit Lions drafted D’Andre Swift to provide their ground game some punch, but his addition could come with the added bonus of pass catching.
Swift was insanely productive in college catching the football out of the backfield. Recently, Pro Football Focus pointed out that the Lions’ runner didn’t drop a pass during the 2019 season. In fact, Swift only dropped 3 passed as a whole in his entire college career.
Swift is going to be a tough cover for teams in the league and that can be even more the case if the Lions decide to use him with another back out of the backfield and switch up the look of their offense. Matt Patricia has hinted this is how the team’s running game might operate this season.
In Swift, the Lions clearly have a runner that is capable of catching the ball and making big plays in the passing game. That will only make the team more dangerous as a whole moving forward.
Matthew Stafford Excited About D’Andre Swift
Matthew Stafford has already been impressed with rookie running back D’Andre Swift and his play, and as he explained after joining Good Morning Football, the rookie seems to have a very high ceiling entering the season thanks to the words of the quarterback.
As Stafford explained, the motivation has been there for Swift to work hard, learn and fit in from the first day he showed up with the team.
Stafford said:
“I’m excited about him. I think he’s a guy that just wants to come in here and work and get better. He’s a sponge right now just trying to learn as much as he possibly can. Obviously, when you hand him the football, you can see the talent, it’s there. You put him out wide and let him run some routes, you see the talent, it’s there.”
In terms of the rookie class, Stafford is also high on those players, admitting he helped acclimate some into the mix this offseason while lauding the good job that they have done on the field so far for the team and the offense as a whole.
“I think this whole class of rookies we brought in, the guys are good guys. That’s what you need. They’ve been put in a tough spot this spring. They were thrown into the fire so during the offseason, I tried to get a few of them together, bring them to the house and just tried to teach them and get them ready for the season and so far, they’ve done a nice job.”
Swift being a dominating force for the Lions would be a huge development this season considering how bad the team’s ground game has been for a long time. Stafford already sees Swift making a big push to have a big role, and that would be huge news for the team moving forward.
So far, it looks as if it could play out that way for Swift and his new team.
D’Andre Swift Impressing in Practice
Swift hasn’t been in pads for the Lions long, but already he’s begun to open some eyes around training camp this week. In drills, Swift has been getting fed the ball as a receiver to show off his skills. That’s been easy for him to do, and he’s caught the attention of the assembled media in the process.
As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press aptly put it while watching a practice, Swift is going to be a problem in the NFL in terms of his pass catching out of the backfield.
The Athletic’s Chris Burke took it a step further with his analysis, saying Swift was eating up linebackers in the pass catching drills.
In college, Swift was more than a capable receiver, racking up 666 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns during his career. If Swift can be a receiving threat out of the backfield, it might allow the Lions to feature multiple back sets and work both he and Kerryon Johnson on the field at the same time. It might also allow the team to be more deceptive in their looks on the field and in turn break more big plays.
Regardless, Swift has certainly been as advertised early on in terms of what he can do. It’s certainly a shame there will be no preseason games to watch him perform and show his stuff against the opposition. For now, fans can only wait for September and the start of the season.
It will be fun to see what Swift can do when he catches the ball in addition to runs with it.
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