Getty D'Andre Swift celebrates after a 2020 touchdown in Atlanta.
The Detroit Lions have seen a potential star emerge in their backfield in D’Andre Swift, and finally, it seems as if the team’s coaching staff is ready to admit that when it comes to his usage.
Every time Swift has been given the reins in a more public way, he has subsequently delivered on the field with solid play. It happened against Jacksonville a few weeks back, and once again it happened in Week 10 against Washington. In those games, Swift has looked like a star and has arguably carried the offense at times.
Now, it looks like Darrell Bevell might finally have had the uncomfortable conversation with Adrian Peterson that was long expected and anticipated amid Swift’s emergence. The hint? Swift could be the team’s go to guy in the backfield for the foreseeable future.
Fantasy GMs: Didn’t catch the words initially, but Lions OC Darrell Bevell on talking w/Adrian Peterson about what role he/D’Andre Swift played vs. WFT: “It was important for us to talk to Adrian & understand the role that they’re going to play from now on.” Note the last 3 words
This isn’t to discount the role Peterson has played in Swift’s rapid development whatsoever. It’s been nice to have a veteran player behind Swift to give him the motivation, push and example in order to be great. It’s also good to have Peterson in the mix for depth just in case there is an injury or other type of problem.
Nobody doubts that Swift now deserves the majority of touches, though, and it’s nice to see the Lions and their staff finally coming to this realization themselves.
D’Andre Swift Showing Huge Potential
A productive back in college out of the running back factory of Georgia, Swift joined the NFL and likely didn’t know what to expect given a crowded backfield in Detroit. Early on, though, he’s taken the reigns and looks like the best player of the bunch when he has been given the chance to see touches. That includes Adrian Peterson as well as another young runner in Kerryon Johnson.
This season, Swift hasn’t been generating a ton of looks for the Lions thus far, but he has some serious stats to support the fact that he is heading for big time things. So far, Swift has run for 331 yards and 4 touchdowns while catching 31 passes for 275 yards and 2 scores. His best game statistically came against Jacksonville, but arguably, he burst on the scene in the biggest way this past weekend.
With that experience on his side, Swift will now set out to make a consistent impact the rest of the way in 2020.
Why D’Andre Swift Earned Bigger Role
More Swift ends up being great news for the Lions considering all he can do when he touches the football. It’s long been time coming for the Lions to give Swift more looks moving forward. When he’s been allowed to, he’s quite literally carried Detroit to a few of their bigger wins on the season. For him not to see a more consistent role in the offense would have been coaching malpractice from the staff. Both with the run and the pass, Swift has been dangerous. It’s hard to imagine a more dynamic player coming along in both aspects of the game, especially so young in his career.
Swift always needed more than just an inconsistent role moving forward to continue his development. The Lions needed to reward him for the hard work he is putting in and give him the majority of the snaps, and it’s nice to see the reality that this could be the conclusion moving forward.
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