Bob Quinn ups expectations for the Detroit Lions running game in 2018

(Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
(Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – OCTOBER 1: The Detroit Lions offense huddles up around Matthew Stafford #9 in the second half of the game against the Minnesota Vikings on October 1, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – OCTOBER 1: The Detroit Lions offense huddles up around Matthew Stafford #9 in the second half of the game against the Minnesota Vikings on October 1, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

How should it play out

I don’t know about you, but I expect big changes in production. Bob Quinn says that short-yardage problems were particularly troubling.

"“So, I think when you all look back at our team last year, all those critical situations, like goal-line, like, we can’t run the ball the half a yard, that bothered me,” Quinn told the media during a post-draft press conference. “So, I took it upon myself to implement some changes in terms of what we wanna do, what we wanna look at and what we wanna look like as a team.”"

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Quinn spent four draft picks on players directly related to running the football. Combine that with free agent moves that netted another runner and two more linemen.

Message sent and received, “We are going to run the ball better and be tougher.

Just to point this out, LeGarrette Blount is 247 pounds, Nick Bawden is 245. Many inside linebackers are similar to our MIKE linebacker, Jarrad Davis, about 240 pounds.

You get Blount and Bawden moving, that’s about 500 pounds of freight train to use in short yard situations. I wouldn’t want to be in front of that battering ram duo!

That is the crux of where our hope should lie. Quinn has put his money where his mouth is, literally.

Over his whole tenure, Quinn has been trying to get this right. He has made moves each year to improve the talent up front.

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