Detroit Lions: Anthony Lynn believes in D’Andre Swift and fans should too

A year ago, the Detroit Lions selected D’Andre Swift in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He showed spurts of greatness, rushing for a little over 500 yards with eight touchdowns. The current rebuilding of the team could not come at a better time for the second-year half back.

Anthony Lynn, the newly hired offensive coordinator of the Lions, stated he believes  Swift can be a three-down back in his system. The Detroit Lions have been utilizing the “running back by committee” method for the past decade. It’s time for a change; Lynn brings that much-needed change.

The committee method has not been so successful for the Lions. They only had one running back to rush for 1,000 yards since 2013, Reggie Bush. Before Bush, the last 1000-yard rusher was Kevin Jones in 2004.

The Lions struggle to develop talent in the backfield. So, what makes Anthony Lynn different from the other offensive coordinators? His resume. Plain and simple, the man can execute a plan to get the most out of his running backs in the upcoming season.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn believes D’Andre Swift can be a three-down back.

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It is no secret that Lynn knows how to get the best out of the running backs around him. Since arriving in the league in 2003, Lynn’s backfields have rushed for over 1,000 yards every season except for two.

Here is a chart that I compiled from all of the running backs that Lynn has coached over the years. The chart contains every running backs total rushing yards and total rushing touchdowns during each year.

Looking at the chart, fans will notice the names of notable backs like Fred Taylor, Jamal Lewis, Shonn Greene, and LeSean McCoy.

Lynn’s offense focuses on establishing the run. It has been a reason why Melvin Gordan and Austin Ekeler were so successful in Lynn’s system.

Also, he loves utilizing the running backs in the passing game. In 2019, Austin Ekeler was considered one of the top running backs in the league but had almost 1,000 yards receiving and only 557 rushing yards.

Anthony Lynn has a tall task ahead of him. Swift showed he could be trusted as an “RB1” last season. Lynn’s hiring is a blessing in disguise.

Hopefully, fans can recognize this and be excited for what is to come with  Lynn looking over the running backs and doing his thing. If Anthony Lynn believes in D’Andre Swift, then you should too.