Leaving aside the run of quotes from his introductory press conference on Thursday, something Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell said about running back D’Andre Swift stood out.
In 13 games as a rookie this year Swift had 521 rushing yards, 46 catches for 357 yards and 10 total touchdowns (eight rushing). A concussion and and then an illness derailed some momentum he had built. But he had four rushing touchdowns in the last four games to finish on a high note. Heading into his second season, even accounting for the three missed games, Swift is in line for a lot more work. He had a 38 percent snap share as a rookie, with a 49.1 percent snap share in the games he played.
Heading into the season, Swift’s pass-catching ability was widely lauded despite low usage during his career at Georgia. And with nearly 50 catches, he proved capable in his rookie season.
The Lions are looking at multiple offensive coordinator candidates. But the idea of featuring Swift more heavily should be part of the plan no matter who the coordinator is. Let’s focus on an easy comparison.
Will the Lions turn D’Andre Swift into Alvin Kamara?
Campbell spent the last five seasons as the New Orleans Saints’ tight ends coach. There he got an up-close look at running back Alvin Kamara, and how he is used as arguably the top dual threat back in the NFL.
Let’s look deeper at Campbell’s desire to use Swift in the slot.
According to Player Profiler, Swift saw just three snaps in the slot this season. By comparison, Kamara had 35 slot snaps (No. 5 among running backs).
Kamara was also top-5 among running backs in routes run, route participation rate, target share, yards per catch and yards per route run. Swift was outside the top-20 among running backs in routes run and route participation. But he was 10th in target share, 11th in yards per catch, sixth in yards per route run and 11th in catch rate at the position.
Campbell has already started the push to make him into a Kamara-like dual threat, so Swift should be the Lions’ clear-cut No. 1 back next season. Breakout buzz can now easily follow.
