Kerryon Johnson put up some serious numbers at Auburn, but there are numerous factors as to why we need to pump the breaks on him as a fantasy football stud with the Lions.
A 1,585 yard and 20 touchdown season in the rugged SEC is nothing to gloss over when it comes to breaking down Kerryon Johnson as a prospect. However, the way in which he got to that total yardage is the real question mark. When you pop the tape in, the first thing you’ll notice is his size (6-feet, 230 lbs) and his patience at the line of scrimmage — it’s borderline Le’Veon Bell-like. Then you’ll think you’re watching an old Big Ten game, where it’s three-yards and a cloud of dust. Johnson’s lack of explosiveness (only nine rushes of 20-plus yards and three rushes of 30-plus yards on 285 carries) at the collegiate level is borderline frightening for his NFL future. Sure, the SEC has a few good defenses, but they’ve softened up lately outside of Alabama and Georgia.
Even though the Lions’ lackluster RB depth chart gives the appearance of a “Value Hole,” the situation could be ugly. Matt Patricia now roams the sidelines there and we all know how much his mentor Bill Belichick, a notorious committee lover, cared about your fantasy teams. Patricia signed LeGarrette Blount in free agency to vulture touchdowns from the likes of Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick. A backfield of Johnson, Blount, Riddick and possibly Abdullah?
Moreover, during the Lions’ Day 2 post-draft press conference, GM Bob Quinn said, ” Ameer (Abdullah) is here, he was here this week, we’re gonna let all those guys compete. This isn’t a one-back league. We’re not a one-back team. It’s a running-back-by-committee league. We’ll probably have three of them active every week, and every one of them is going to have a role in our offense.” When asked specifically of usage, he added, “He runs a lot between the guards, but I think we’ll use him more to run outside…”
Puke. Let your leaguemates take the oft-injured running back earlier than they should, while you can target one of the other rookie backs.
