Remember when Kerryon Johnson ran for over 100 yards against the Patriots in Week 3 and it was the first time since early in Obama’s second term that a Lions’ RB had pulled that off? It seemed like they were going to embrace the running game in Detroit—then (because they’re the Lions) Johnson only carried the ball 9 times and 12 times the following 2 games, averaging an excellent 6 yards a carry over those contests. Finally someone got the memo in Detroit that they had a game changing RB on their hands and they should be using him. Johnson got a respectable bell-cow’ish 19 carries against the Dolphins for a massive 158 yards in Week 7 and added a couple catches for 21 yards just for good measure. That’s a butt load of fantasy points if you’re keeping track—and we know that you are.
With backfield mate LeGarrette Blount averaging just under 3 yards a carry for the season and the Lions still in the playoff hunt and division race, it would seem that any moron would now go all in on Johnson as the Lions’ workhorse—albeit ceding some third down work to Theo Riddick (although Johnson has proved to be a competent receiver as well). At this point in the year, Johnson has rushed 69 times for 444 yards—an average of almost 6.5 yards a carry—and that is not a small sample size.
Johnson’s stock is officially up—WAY up. Could the Lions find a way to not use him? Sure. But even so, you should still be scrambling to get a piece of him if you can.
