Detroit Lions running back group is starting to take shape
By Ash Thompson
The Detroit Lions had the NFL’s third worst rushing attack in 2016. In 2017 the only difference is the health of Ameer Abdullah, and time for other players to develop. Here is how they look so far in the 2017 preseason.
Zach Zenner
Zenner runs with a reckless abandon that is very fun to watch. I do sometimes wonder if dialing that back down from eleven might not give him better results on a lot of plays. Zenner does not have the sudden burst of Abdullah or Riddick, but cuts well at speed.
He has enough wiggle to his game to avoid direct impact, but will seek that impact as often as he avoids it. When forced to move laterally by a playcall, or to avoid defenders, Zenner is unable to gain much yardage.
He has also struggles blocking in the preseason games, but his difficulties are mental not physical. Zenner is a capable blocker when he finds his man. It has been finding the man, whether picking up blitzes or as a lead blocker in his one opportunity out of a two back set, that has been Zenner’s issue.
Dwayne Washington
He has put up good stats. Washington leads the team in carries, yards per carry, and obviously rushing yardage. If there is a hole where there is supposed to be a hole, Washington is going to gain yardage. He has also shown the speed and quickness to break a run outside when required.
When he cuts, he does not slow down, as many bigger backs do, and he has used that to his advantage. He has been regularly giving the team yards after contact, and has shown a willingness to just get back to the line when the blocking in front of him has been sub-par.
The thing to remember is that Washington has been playing the majority of his snaps against second and third stringers. While that does not affect his gains on plays where a hole is present all that much, it does affect whether his runs can be replicated when the blocking is poor.
In regular season action, a running back trying to cut outside results in lost yardage more often than not. There have been some mental errors as well. On Jake Rudock’s interception against the Jets for example, Washington cut to the outside when Rudock was clearly expecting him to cut in.
That may be the second year backup quarterback’s fault but as Chris Spielman said during another part of the broadcast, I will take the quarterback’s read over the receiver’s every time.