Lions Season Review, Part Dos: Running Backs

Next up on our brutal odyssey is our visit to the running backs of the Detroit Lions. Prior to the season, Rod Marinelli basically forced out Mike Martz so he could rebuild the offense around a strong running game which emphasized ball control, time of possession and all that jazz. Perhaps that all sounds good in theory, but when you are going into the season with an underwear thief and a rookie as the key players in that game plan, well, you're gonna end up a lot like the Lions ended up, wandering around aimlessly, alone and afraid.

When the change was announced the Lions still had Kevin Jones on the roster, an oft injured but fairly talented back, as well as TJ Duckett, a battering ram who could provide the thunder to KJ's lightning if we are speaking strictly in overused football clichés. But then the Lions released Kevin Jones and TJ said fuck this bullshit and hopped the first flight out of town. I can't say I blame him given the killing fields that he left behind him, but unfortunately for the Lions and their fans, that left Tatum Bell. Tatum, best known for his thievery of Rudi Johnson's man panties, was probably not going to be brought back before every one else got the fuck out of town. Unfortunately, with every one else gone, he became, suddenly, the Lions last best hope for a running game. Cue the funeral music.

The Lions then drafted the uber-productive Kevin Smith, whose single season rushing total as a junior was second in NCAA history only to Barry Sanders, hallowed be thy name. Unfortunately, those numbers were put up at Central Florida and in Conference USA, so no one knew exactly what to expect. I was mildly optimistic about Smith but I worried that playing behind the Lions shitty offensive line would doom him to mediocrity, not a good place to be when the fate of the offense rests upon your shoulders.

Perhaps sensing this, the Lions worked out a host of other running back possibilities, including Cedric Benson and Shaun Alexander, before settling on Rudi Johnson, who had been cast off by the Bengals after a number of highly productive seasons. Sure, Rudi was damaged goods, but he had done it before and as a change up to Smith he seemed a better bet than Bell. Of course, what Rudi Johnson became best known for in Detroit was getting his drawers stolen by the underwear thief when he took his job. That bit of weirdness perhaps presaged what was to come, and when they show the Lions 2008 highlight tape, at least 3/4 of it will consist of people making fun of both Tatum Bell and Rudi Johnson for Hanesgate. The other 1/4 will of course be random images taken from Faces of Death videos, but that is another issue for another day.

So, how did that new power running game work out? Eh. Many people will point to the fact that the Lions often fell behind quickly, causing the Lions to air it out in their futile attempts to come from behind. This is true, but perhaps if the Lions had a stronger running game right from the start, and were capable of playing a sound, ball control style, they wouldn't have found themselves in such big holes so quickly. It's kind of a chicken or the egg sort of argument, but I simply can't agree when people say that if given a chance the Lions running game would have thrived. That is simply ignoring too many of the flaws which made such a strategy nobly futile at best, absurd and retarded at worst. For starters, the line, as I said before, is no good. It sucks and has sucked for a while now. To suddenly expect them to band together and drive opposing defenses into the sea was kind of silly. Then there is the fact that the running game was made up of a rookie and a freeballing retread. Add those two things together and even under the best of circumstances this was a running game that was probably doomed to mediocrity at best.

As the season wore on, the Lions coaching staff did do one thing right. They decided that whatever happened, Kevin Smith was going to be the man. We saw less and less of pantsless Rudi, and it became clear that Smith was going to be the guy. And the more he played, the better he became, which happens so rarely to Lions players that it was kind of hard to believe. And yet, when the Lions finally dragged their limp, beaten bodies to the finish line, Smith had a chance to reach the 1,000 yard mark as a rookie. He didn't get there, falling short like the rest of the team, but his final numbers weren't bad. 238 carries for 976 yards, 8 TDs, and a 4.1 yards per carry average is good for any back, very good for a rookie, and really, downright miraculous for a rookie running back carrying the rushing load on an 0-16 team with a barely functioning offensive line. Where it really gets interesting is when you compare his numbers to Rudi Johnson, who put up 237 yards on 76 carries with 1 TD and a 3.1 yards per carry average. What this shows is that playing behind the same line in the same offense, Smith managed a full yard per carry better than Johnson, which either speaks to the immensity of Rudi's decline or shows that Kevin Smith is actually really good. Perhaps it is a little bit of both, but I am definitely encouraged here and I think it's clear that we got a good one in Smith.

One interesting note: this is stupendously stupid and doesn't mean a thing but here are the side by side stats of Smith's rookie season and the stats from the rookie season of a well known back from the past

Smith: 238 - 976 - 8 - 4.1, with a long run of 50 yards
Anonymous Back: 241 - 937 - 11 - 3.9, with a long run of 48 yards

Pretty close. The anonymous back is Emmitt Smith. Stupid, pointless and probably meaningless, but kind of interesting anyway.

At fullback the Lions opened the season with rookie Jerome Felton. And while Felton was adequate, he was nothing special. When he was injured the Lions brought in veteran Moran Norris whose entry into the lineup coincided with Smith finding a groove at running back. It appears that the Lions found a good lead blocking fullback in Norris, something they have missed since Corey Schlesinger was with the team.

What we learned: That the Lions didn't have the horses to pull the team offensively. Up front, the Lions simply didn't have the talent to push around the lines of opposing defenses, and while Smith proved to be a potential star in the making, he alone couldn't carry the weight of the running game. Unfortunately, the way the offense was reset in the wake of Martz' ouster, the running game needed to be not only solid but relentlessly efficient if the Lions offense was going to do what it needed to do in order to compensate for a woeful defense. It wasn't, the offense sputtered and the Lions went 0-16. In order for the Lions to win in the future more balance is indeed needed, and Smith should provide a necessary first step there. But he can't do it alone, the poor bastard, and if he is forced to, it will be only a matter of time before he either gets injured or flips out, says to hell with this and finds himself as a backup with the Bears or someone. It's critical that the Lions find a compliment to Smith, both in the form of another runner and in the form of a working passing game hopefully manned by someone without a noodle for an arm or someone who isn't 300 pounds.

What we can expect: Hopefully good things. I was encouraged by Smith's progress throughout the season, and the more I look at the numbers the more I feel like he should be at the very least a solid, dependable NFL starter, something we haven't really had in years in Detroit. He should be the best running back the Lions have had since Saint Barry's spirit was broken. Hopefully the same thing won't eventually happen to him. I would like to see the Lions pursue someone to act as a decent change of pace back to spell Smith so he isn't murdered. Rudi Johnson and his 3.1 yards per carry isn't going to cut it, and hopefully someone with a full wardrobe of man panties will be able to get the job done. Maybe a mid round draft pick or maybe another roll of the dice on a veteran free agent, I don't know, but they need someone else if this thing is really going to work. At fullback, I'm okay with Moran Norris and maybe with another year or two Felton can take over. Overall, I feel better about this area of the team than most others, which is really pretty miraculous given what was there before the season started. The pieces are in place for a sound running game, at least in the backfield. These guys behind a rebuilt line could do some damage, and actually give me a modicum of hope heading into the future. Of course, having said that, Smith will probably break both legs or be found wandering down Woodward naked and confused, slowly chased by a squadron of police cars. We will see. I have said in the past that hope is a good thing and so I will stick to that and will hope for the best here.

What I Said Before the Season:
Grade: C if everything breaks right, D if everything breaks as I expect it to.

Overall Final Grade: C-. Smith looked good late in the year and there is hope for the future, but let's not kid ourselves here, taken as a whole the Lions running game was mediocre at best. It was Smith and then nothing. And it's not like he ran for 1500 yards or anything, and, yeah, 0-16.