It may have taken until the Detroit Lions‘ ninth game of the season for the coaching staff to catch on, but on Sunday against the Washington Football Team, rookie RB D’Andre Swift finally got his first career start. Though Swift had been the Lions’ most productive running back through the first eight games of the season, the coaching staff continued to start veteran Adrian Peterson, despite him struggling in almost every game so far.
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Not only did Swift get the start in the Lions 30-27 win over Washington, but he played on a whopping 73% of the offensive snaps, compared to just 13% for Peterson.
On Tuesday, Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell spoke to the media and he said he had spoken to Peterson about what role he and Swift played vs. Washington.
“It was important for us to talk to Adrian & understand the role that they’re going to play from now on.
As noted by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the last 3 words out of Bevell’s mouth (“from now on”) are very telling.
Fantasy GMs: Didn't catch the words initially, but Lions OC Darrell Bevell on talking w/Adrian Peterson about what role he/D'Andre Swift played vs. WFT: "It was important for us to talk to Adrian & understand the role that they’re going to play from now on." Note the last 3 words
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) November 18, 2020
D’Andre Swift has shown that he has what it takes to be an every-down running back in the NFL and there is absolutely no reason to hold him back by playing a veteran who has clearly lost more than a step.
Adrian Peterson is going to be extremely valuable moving forward but instead of being the Lions’ workhorse, his value will come from teaching D’Andre Swift the ropes. And guess what? That is worth every penny the Lions are paying him.
