Detroit Lions in Review - Running Backs

This is one area that absolutely needs to be addressed. Whether it is in the draft, free agency or trading, the Detroit Lions need to improve at the running back position.

Kevin Smith is simply no better than an average player at this position. After 29 games and 455 carries, Smith has only broken a run for over 32 yards once. It was a fifty yard scramble and he was caught from behind, keeping him from scoring a touchdown. Only one carry for over 32 yards! Kevin Smith is not big enough to be a bruising back who drags defenders for the extra yards and he just does not have the extra gear to break away for long runs. In other words, when he is in the game, the defenses do not worry about him. Grade = ( D )

Maurice Morris is not much better than Kevin Smith in this area. Many fans will look at how well he played after Smith went down with the injury and think he can be a good running back. Don't be fooled, he is nothing better than average himself. Maurice did have one very good run where he broke away for a 64 yard touchdown. Keep in mind however that other than that one long break away, Morris did not have another run for more than 16 yards in his other 92 carries. Grade = ( C- )

The Lions do have one speedy running back in Aaron Brown, but for some reason I have not begun to understand, Schwartz did not feel the need to give him a chance. Every fan who watched the Lions could see their running backs are slow, but rather than give the speedy kid a chance, Schwartz kept him on the bench while he continued to play slower, less talented running backs. I know Brown did not do well as a return specialist, but that has nothing to do with playing running back. In his limited carries, Brown still had a better yards per carry average than the other running backs and he has good hands coming out of the back field. Grade = (inc.)

There is some talk of the Lions looking at taking a running back in the draft. The only way I would even consider this move is if they can get a running back with the entire package. Size, strength, good hands and most importantly, exceptional speed. The only reason I would even consider this is because the upcoming draft is supposed to be loaded with linemen, both offensive and defensive and they can take one player and still have time to take linemen. If the real deal is not available, they have to build the trenches up.

Overall Grade = ( D+ )

Future Goals for the Lions

Once the trade market opens up again, when free agency begins and in the next draft, the Lions need to have a plan. They need to pin point specific weaknesses and address them. The Detroit Lions have a lot of weaknesses to address, we all understand that. Someone just needs to tell them that and get them to actually address those issues.

#1 ... Offensive line. Specifically the left tackle where Jeff Backus continues to falter. So far, after 6 games into the 2009 season, here are some statistics according to CBS2Chicago. With three penalties, Backus has more than any other one offensive line-man on the Lions. He has two false starts and one holding penalty. Even though that is the worst on the Lions, that doesn't seem all so bad. Here is the telling stat however. In six games, Jeff Backus has allowed 5.5 sacks. The next worse is Gosder Cherilus with 2.75 sacks. Only half of what Backus has allowed. He is easily the worst lineman on the Lions offensive line and he is supposed to be protecting our quarterbacks blind side.

#2 ... Defensive Line. At times this season the defensive line has looked okay. Other times they couldn't put pressure on a Powder Puff quarterback. They absolutely need the big powerhouse who will reek havoc in the middle and a true speedster to close in on the opposing quarterbacks from the outside. You simply cannot win in the NFL if you do not pressure the opposing quarterback.

#3 ... Corner Back. It has been a very long time since the Lions had any resemblance of a true shut down corner. If in next years draft there is a true shut down corner back, the Lions need to take him. Even if it is their first round pick. If you can take an opponents best receiver out of the game, it makes the rest of the defense's job far easier.

#4 ... Running Back. Yes, Kevin Smith is a hard runner. Yes a lot of fans like him. Yes he ran for almost a 1000 yards as a rookie on a winless team. No he is not a star caliber running back to make opposing defenses fear him. Good offenses have running backs who can take one to the house if he gets in the open field. Kevin Smith is a running back who runs like a talented full back. If you want a power runner, you need a big bodied runner like Michael Turner or Brandon Jacobs. 211 lbs power running backs just do not put the fear of God into opposing defenses. This is the only high profile position I would understand the Lions using a first round draft pick on in April of 2010. If they can get a RB the likes of Tomlinson or Adrian Peterson, I think they should do it before even considering the other more important issues.

Whatever they do with the first round pick, the Lions cannot afford to let free-agency and the second round draft go by without addressing the Left Tackle position. Not if they want to keep Stafford alive.

Kevin Smith's Injury Could be Blessing in Disguise

The Detroit Lions running back, Kevin Smith left the game on Sunday with an injured shoulder. Jim Schwartz has recently said that he will stay in full compliance of the leagues injury report rules, but he will not give out one single iota of extra information. This makes me wonder what he would have to hide.

Kevin Smith has looked pretty good at times this seasons as he has pushed for positive yardage consistently. He is stronger than last year and rather than going down when he hits a wall, he has often pushed it as he has fallen forward. Yet, I have to ask myself, how bad would it be for the Lions if Kevin Smith couldn't play? I don't believe for one moment that Maurice Morris is as good as Kevin Smith, but it isn't Morris I would like to see more of. I would be interested to see Aaron Brown get a decent share of touches at the running back position in a game.

If there is one knock on Kevin Smith, it is his lack of top end speed. He does not seem to have the extra gear to take the ball the distance when he does break into the open field. He has strength, shiftiness and decent vision to break into the open once in a while. But when he does break open, he is always dragged down from behind. In all honesty, when he does break into the open field, I still do not jump to my feet with excitement like I used to with Sanders. Simply because I do not believe Smith can turn it into a touchdown unless he is already in the redzone.

Aaron Brown however would be different. Brown has some real speed and if he got into open field, he might actually take one the distance. That long ball threat will excite fans a little more and it will keep defenses a little more honest. Defenses will have to make a little more sure that Brown doesn't get into the open field because he can take one the distance. The more a defense needs to worry about the run, the less that can worry about the pass.

Don't miss-understand me. I like Kevin Smith. I really do! But I just happen to like really fast running backs a little more. If Adrian Peterson wasn't fast enough to score from the other end of the field, would he be a running back defenses schemed against? As shifty as Barry Sanders was, would he have been the star he was if he was not as fast as he was? It is the real speedsters that create the excitement. It is the long ball hitters that worry defenses.

Sure there have been a few power running backs that have put fear into defenses. Jim Brown was one of course. There was Christian Okoye as well. Today there is Brandon Jacobs in New York. The thing that separates those guys from running backs like Kevin Smith are their size. They were big enough that defenses take a beating from trying to tackle them. They carried defensive players five extra yards. Even Billy Simms had that kind of power. Often I saw him drag two or three players an extra five yards before finally falling into the endzone. Kevin Smith is a strong runner, but he does not have that kind of strength.

If Kevin Smith cannot play Sunday, they will likely play Maurice Morris a lot more than Aaron Brown. I think that would be a mistake. With Kevin Smith, the Lions running game was looking okay, but it was not great. Morris would only serve to give the Lions more of the same, only not quite as good as Kevin Smith. If they turned to Brown however, there is an outside chance the running game could be great. All it would take is for Aaron Brown to break free and take one to the house just one time, then the Bears defense would really have to worry about him. One long run from Brown could do more for the Lions than what Morris would do all day.

Make no bones about it, the Lions are not in the position to play it safe. If they wanted to play it safe, they would have started Culpepper to begin the season. Schwartz decided to go with StafFORD because he had the higher upside. If the Lions want to win in Chicago, and Ken Smith can't go, they need to gamble and go with the higher upside again and play Brown. If Kevin Smith cannot play Sunday, then giving the ball to Brown is the only way to turn Smith's injury into a blessing rather than a hinderance.

Barry Sanders: The Greatest Running Back of All Time?

In 1989 the Detroit Lions drafted Barry Sanders with the third pick overall. It was the greatest draft pick in the history of the Lions franchise. It was a horrible draft pick for the NFL.

How often do we see lists that rank Jim Brown and Emmitt Smith above Barry Sanders? First of all, and this will shock many, but I don't rank Jim Brown in the top five all time. Jim Brown dominated the sport in his day, there is no doubt about that, but that is because he was in an era when the talent was far less than it is now. The defenses are far bigger, stronger and faster than they were in Brown's day. As great as he was, if Jim Brown played in the modern era, he would be a very good, maybe great player, but he would not be all-time great. I would expect him to be more like Christian Okoye was.

There is always the ongoing debate about who was better, Barry or emmitt. If one looks only at the statistics, then they might take Emmitt. More career yards and more touchdowns. Not to mention the super bowl rings. In the years the two played in the league together, Barry Sanders had more yards in five of the nine seasons. This is including the last three seasons in a row before Barry retired early. Now considering how close in status these two played, when one brings who they played for into the format it changes everything. Emmitt Smith had a great team around him. He ran behind a great offensive line. Barry Sanders had an average team at best around him and his offensive line was one of the worst in the league. I have heard it argued before that the Lions offensive line was good because Barry's numbers prove it. However, I believe that Sanders got his yardage in spite of the line, not because of it. There were far too many times when he scrambled and spun and juked his way to a three yard gain. Too many times when he took a one yard loss ONLY because the offensive line could not stop a blitz and Sanders was hit as he took the hand-off. Those are not signs of a good line. Simply put, if Barry and Emmitt had been on each others teams, Emmitt would have never been close to his records and Sanders would have blown all records away.

As a Lions fan, I saw how great Barry Sanders was on a weekly basis. I saw the near superhuman feats he pulled off. The NFL has never before seen the likes of Barry Sanders talent and likely never will again. His hi-lite films are not running through gaping holes and not all just changes of directions to make players miss. His reels have scenes of him rolling head over heels, over top a would be tackler, only to land on his feet again and run away. It has clips of Barry stopping on a dime, surrounded by several defensive players, then taking off again as the defenders all dove to where he had been a moment before. No player has ever been able to stop, go, change directions, spin and bounce while keeping perfect balance like Barry could. No player in the history of the NFL has ever had fans holding their breath with each run like Barry did.

Barry Sanders was not another case of being a great player who happened to play in a bad era. Barry Sanders played in the best of eras and still left players, coaches and fans standing with their jaws dropped, wondering if they actually saw what they just saw. Other players have made jaw dropping plays, but none have done it near as often as Barry has. And he did it on a bad team, behind a bad line! And I cant help but to wonder, what if? What if Barry had played for Dallas instead of Detroit? What if Barry had gaping holes to run through and coaches that had enough guts to play him in goal line situations. What if Barry had actually played for a great team rather than the Lions? How much did the football world miss out on because it was the Lions who drafted him?

When the Detroit Lions drafted Barry Sanders, it was the greatest moment in Detroit History. It was the greatest loss in NFL history.

Detroit Lions Running Backs

Let's face it. When it comes to the Detroit Lions Running Backs, their is only one name truly worth mentioning. The Lions acquired Maurice Morris in the off-season, but be clear about it. Morris is in no way shape or form considered a starting Running Back. That job will fall to Kevin Smith and Kevin Smith alone. The only place Morris has a chance to out play Smith is in short yardage. If he does that, he will get most of the goal line carries. I doubt that will happen though.

Kevin Smith is a good Running Back, but he is not great. In his rookie season, he showed flashes of vision and talent to make the first man miss him. Smith has enough speed to get to the outside, a trait the Lions running backs have lacked for some time. Where Kevin Smith falls short though, is his seeming to lack the extra gear.

All too often in 2008, Kevin Smith broke into the open field only to be chased down. His longest run of the season came in week 6 in Minnesota when he sprinted away for a 50 yard scamper. It was not a touchdown. Other than that, in his 238 carries, his longest run was 32 yards.

I like Kevin Smith. I really do. However, if I am to be honest with myself, I have to believe that so long as he is the Lions main running threat, opposing defenses will not respect the Lions running game. Defenses are not afraid of a running back who does not have break away speed that can add a quick score. Unless Kevin Smith develops that extra gear once he hits the open field, the Detroit Lions running game will continue to fall short.