Why not D'Andre Swift?

[timeEd32]

The times they are a changin'. We've talked about it for years, but it seems to really be materializing recently. Feels like every team in the league has a full-blown committee at RB. It's what makes the Henry/CMC/Cook's of the world so valuable. 20 touches for them is light, whereas it's be a great week for most guys.

Even CMC and Cook are starting to show the wear from crazy workloads in previous years. The outlier is Derrick Henry, who really is unique. Not only can he handle 30+ carries, he gets better in games as he approaches 30+ carries.

Swift (the fantasy asset) is just another casualty, though he'll probably last longer in the NFL because of it. It kills me as a Chubb owner. He averages 5+ ypc and Cleveland (smartly) insists on splitting time with him and Hunt. It's smart football, but it's a killer for fantasy teams.

True, at the same time Swift is RB6 on the year so it’s not like people are unhappy. His quiet games have still been solid from a floor perspective that helps. I’m curious to see if this exact breakdown continues all year if both are healthy.

Yeah, if a guy is splitting time then you want the one in the Kamara/Swift type role. Chubb is able to be valuable in fantasy because he's insanely talented and Cleveland runs a lot, but it's not the role you want your guy in between the two. It's why I (very slightly) prefer Swift over JT.

[Mike11]

Another good week, Campbell went balls to the wall and let him run it from 7 out with no timeouts and he punched it in. Even on limited touches he continues to look great and at some point the coaching staff needs to give him more touches because 0-5 ain’t looking pretty.

[Cameron Giles]

Another good week, Campbell went balls to the wall and let him run it from 7 out with no timeouts and he punched it in. Even on limited touches he continues to look great and at some point the coaching staff needs to give him more touches because 0-5 ain’t looking pretty.

Still don't like the usage. He had 1 target in the first half and Goff had thrown the ball 17 times.

They continue to only get him going in the passing game when they are trailing significantly or trailing with little time left.

It was good that they ran him more with positive game script, but the passing game usage is just egregious.

[Mike11]

Another good week, Campbell went balls to the wall and let him run it from 7 out with no timeouts and he punched it in. Even on limited touches he continues to look great and at some point the coaching staff needs to give him more touches because 0-5 ain’t looking pretty.

Still don't like the usage. He had 1 target in the first half and Goff had thrown the ball 17 times.

They continue to only get him going in the passing game when they are trailing significantly or trailing with little time left.

It was good that they ran him more with positive game script, but the passing game usage is just egregious.

I don't love the usage either but how many more times are they going to try to operate as this tandem? For fantasy even with it Swift has been an RB1 but 17 touches for 104 yards for Swift vs. 14 for 65 for JWill. At a certain point idk how the staff can't mix it up. They still are rotating them nearly every single play which is just gross honestly, even Cleveland lets Chubb/Hunt own the whole drive.

[Cameron Giles]

Another good week, Campbell went balls to the wall and let him run it from 7 out with no timeouts and he punched it in. Even on limited touches he continues to look great and at some point the coaching staff needs to give him more touches because 0-5 ain’t looking pretty.

Still don't like the usage. He had 1 target in the first half and Goff had thrown the ball 17 times.

They continue to only get him going in the passing game when they are trailing significantly or trailing with little time left.

It was good that they ran him more with positive game script, but the passing game usage is just egregious.

I don't love the usage either but how many more times are they going to try to operate as this tandem? For fantasy even with it Swift has been an RB1 but 17 touches for 104 yards for Swift vs. 14 for 65 for JWill. At a certain point idk how the staff can't mix it up. They still are rotating them nearly every single play which is just gross honestly, even Cleveland lets Chubb/Hunt own the whole drive.

It's not the number for me, it's just how it comes.

I have no idea why they don't target him more in the receiving game when they are not trailing.

[timeEd32]

Still don't like the usage. He had 1 target in the first half and Goff had thrown the ball 17 times.

They continue to only get him going in the passing game when they are trailing significantly or trailing with little time left.

It was good that they ran him more with positive game script, but the passing game usage is just egregious.

I don't love the usage either but how many more times are they going to try to operate as this tandem? For fantasy even with it Swift has been an RB1 but 17 touches for 104 yards for Swift vs. 14 for 65 for JWill. At a certain point idk how the staff can't mix it up. They still are rotating them nearly every single play which is just gross honestly, even Cleveland lets Chubb/Hunt own the whole drive.

It's not the number for me, it's just how it comes.

I have no idea why they don't target him more in the receiving game when they are not trailing.

The weird thing is two weeks ago the coaching staff talked about this exact point and ... they still aren't doing it. I thought coming into the season they might protect him a bit this season and I do think that may be part of it. But even if that's the case they should still be using him more in the passing game. Not sure what else he needs to do to prove that.

[Mike11]

I think he's proven what he needs to tbh. The staff is going to have to change the gameplan at this point. JWill is steady back there but he doesn't have the game breaking upside of Swift. Really no reason for the coaching staff to not use Swift more, they want to keep their jobs. I wonder how much of this is Anthony Lynn liking Jamaal Williams "scrappy lunch pale" attitude. Campbell makes comments about how you could see him starting but then we still see Williams in first, I really don't get it.

[FantasyFreak]

Another game saved by garbage time. Why not target him earlier?

[Cameron Giles]

Another game saved by garbage time. Why not target him earlier?

Their offensive game plan sucks.

They don't have a whole lot of weapons, but the game plan is really bad.

At one point, Goff had 28 pass attempts, the Lions were down 27, and Swift had 2 targets.

[Mike11]

He's been everything owners have asked for even in a defunct situation and is now DLFs RB3 in dynasty (I assume Saquon's latest injury had people flipping them both respectively). I have to say I've watched just about every touch he's had this year and I'm sure the one glaring thing people will point out is good oline but bad YPC for him. Think this goes back to JWill's run style being more bruiser up the middle and it's working with him better than Swift. Another thing to note, his snap count was up to 78% yesterday which was the highest of the season with it increasing more every week essentially.

Until he gets involved early or we really see what he does with a normalized rotational situation I'm not sure his efficiency will increase. He also has a lot of short yardage / goal line runs that are deflating his YPC too. FYI for those curious JWill got the "Start" again. Lions now at 0-6 I wonder if they're going to adapt their strategy anymore. Goff genuinely has no juice, he looked horrid and defenses have no reason to stack the box against the run or just double cover Hockenson and key in on the RB out of the backfield.

[Cameron Giles]

He's been everything owners have asked for even in a defunct situation and is now DLFs RB3 in dynasty (I assume Saquon's latest injury had people flipping them both respectively). I have to say I've watched just about every touch he's had this year and I'm sure the one glaring thing people will point out is good oline but bad YPC for him. Think this goes back to JWill's run style being more bruiser up the middle and it's working with him better than Swift. Another thing to note, his snap count was up to 78% yesterday which was the highest of the season with it increasing more every week essentially.

Until he gets involved early or we really see what he does with a normalized rotational situation I'm not sure his efficiency will increase. He also has a lot of short yardage / goal line runs that are deflating his YPC too. FYI for those curious JWill got the "Start" again. Lions now at 0-6 I wonder if they're going to adapt their strategy anymore. Goff genuinely has no juice, he looked horrid and defenses have no reason to stack the box against the run or just double cover Hockenson and key in on the RB out of the backfield.

Good post.

Swift has maximized his current role. Garbage time and some redzone carries have saved some games that were on track to be bad fantasy games.

People went into the season thinking Williams would be a problem, but he's not even a threat to Swift's upside. Williams has never had a game playing 50%< of the offensive snaps this season. Swift now has three straight games of at least 70% of the offensive snaps.

It's really just a matter of coaching now. He can do a lot more than what he's done. The snap share is good, but it's time to get him going in positive game script and stop waiting until the Lions are down three touchdowns.

[Pullo Vision]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Ihartitz/sta ... 2995821582

Swift is in the running for the league’s single-worst rusher in terms of yards after contact per carry and missed tackles forced per rush.

[nathanq42]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Ihartitz/sta ... 2995821582

Swift is in the running for the league’s single-worst rusher in terms of yards after contact per carry and missed tackles forced per rush.

I'd be more concerned if this was inclusive of receptions, but as it stands as just rushes I'm not too worried. Obviously not great but his value isn't in the run game. I'd also be curious to see how he is being used in the rushing game (mostly inside vs outside etc)

[lukkynumber13]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Ihartitz/sta ... 2995821582

Swift is in the running for the league’s single-worst rusher in terms of yards after contact per carry and missed tackles forced per rush.

I'd be more concerned if this was inclusive of receptions, but as it stands as just rushes I'm not too worried. Obviously not great but his value isn't in the run game. I'd also be curious to see how he is being used in the rushing game (mostly inside vs outside etc)

His value to this point has been PURELY based on TDs (which certainly isn't sustainable given the team he's on), and his work as a receiver.

When is the last time we had an elite back who did nothing statistically relevant as a runner? James White had a nice little run a couple years ago, but... is that what we have in Swift? James White on a worse team?

[FantasyFreak]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Ihartitz/sta ... 2995821582

I'd be more concerned if this was inclusive of receptions, but as it stands as just rushes I'm not too worried. Obviously not great but his value isn't in the run game. I'd also be curious to see how he is being used in the rushing game (mostly inside vs outside etc)

His value to this point has been PURELY based on TDs (which certainly isn't sustainable given the team he's on), and his work as a receiver.

When is the last time we had an elite back who did nothing statistically relevant as a runner? James White had a nice little run a couple years ago, but... is that what we have in Swift? James White on a worse team?

I roster Swift, but I've said it from the get go, he is really lacking as a runner. He's got a nice floor because of his receiving ability, but I think it's hard to see him being the lead back as a runner.