Getty Dan Campbell walks off the field following the team's preseason game in July 2021.
The Detroit Lions are preparing for a new season, and hope is running high for the team as it relates to making improvements on the field. Most assume the team and several players will take steps forward, but that might not be true for every analyst.
Naturally, some players are going to end up as busts come 2022, and while the Lions hope that they are immune from having too many players on this list, the fact is, someone will find a way to disappoint this coming season.
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Bleacher Report and writer Alex Kay provided an upsetting picture of what could lie ahead for the Lions this coming season with a player they are depending on. Kay was charged to pick a bust for every single team in the league, and when it came to the Lions, D’Andre Swift was his choice.
Kay cites Swift’s early injury trouble as a big reason for his lack of faith in the back, and notes as a result of this and his so-so production as a rusher, he has become “one of the most frustrating players in football.”
As a runner, Kay doesn’t think Swift has what it takes to be a star at the position, and referenced a stat he believes proves that to be the case.
“Even when healthy, Swift hasn’t contributed at a high level outside of his receiving skills. According to Ian Hartitz of PFF.com, the 23-year-old ranked dead-last in the site’s rushing grade metric amongst the 50 backs who qualified with 100 or more carries,” Kay wrote.
Overall, this leads Kay to proclaim that Swift is heading for more trouble on the field this coming year.
“Unless he shows serious improvement as a ball carrier, Swift will remain an injury-prone, one-dimensional pass-catching back set up to disappoint in 2022,” he wrote in the piece.
That paints a very bleak picture of where Swift is at with the Lions at this point in time, and the hope for the team is that he can surpass these dismal projections with a much better season in 2022 on the field.
Health will have a lot to do with how Swift performs, so the hope is the runner can stay on the field and show what he is capable of.
Swift Already Called to ‘Show More’ This Year
For better or worse, Swift is being called out in a big way by many ahead of 2022. Another person doing this is NFL.com writer Adam Rank. In a piece about the Lions before 2022, Rank offers thoughts about the roster and team. Notable in terms of players was his assertion that 2022 would be the ideal time for Swift to step up and make an impact.
Writing “at some point, he needs to become the guy,” Rank calls out Swift before 2022. As he says, now is the perfect time for a break-out for the player who’s talent has left everyone hungering for extra on the field.
“I think you could say that we just want to see more. And if you’re looking for some similarities, Swift reminds me an awful lot of Dalvin Cook, who played just four games during his rookie year. He took another step forward in his second season and exploded for 13 rushing touchdowns during his third season in Minnesota. That would be the dream for Lions fans,” Rank goes on to write.
If Swift has a break-out season with the Lions, that would be a big development for the team. The Lions have needed a leader at running back for a while, and Swift has felt as if he could be that guy. To this point, it hasn’t happened. Cook has become one of the top runners in the NFC North, and Swift does seem to have that kind of juice if he can put things together.
Perhaps with this little push of extra motivation, Swift can edge himself over the top this season and not bust.
Swift Facing Major Pressure for 2022 Season
Add it up and it’s clear that Swift is facing a potential make-or-break season for the Lions in 2022. The team clearly believes in him as well as his talent at running back, and in multiple ways, Swift seems to be taking things seriously ahead of the year. He has beefed up his body, and has remained committed to his craft even in the dead period of the offseason. Swift looks and feels as if he is a player primed to take the next step for the team, but at this point, he still has to go out and prove it during game action.
Staying healthy and producing eye-catching numbers early on would be a good way for Swift to show his overall value as a star in the league. It would go a long way toward proving this frustrating prediction wrong.
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