Detroit Lions: Will Kerryon Johnson ground these flyin’ Lions?

Now as we continue to progress through the exhibition season the task is to build upon that start. All the work the Lions have invested into the offensive line means that this team should be fairly productive regardless of who is carrying the ball.

Yet the ability to field a feature back who can put fear into opposing defenses should not be dismissed. Last year Kerryon pretty much owned SEC defenses and we’re talking about teams like Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and LSU to name a few.

With all due respect to those venerable schools and how tough they are on that level, Johnson has now moved on to a decidedly higher level of competition.

However, everything he did against the Raiders seemed so easy. It never seemed like he was straining himself or out of control. Kerryon Johnson has field presence. A presence he made known on a late summer evening in Oakland, California.

A presence he will unveil at his new home of Ford Field tomorrow night.

After a very promising debut, the question is simple; will Kerryon Johnson be the Lions next star running back?

Matt Patricia has already announced that he wants to do the old ‘running back by committee’, but the point of that strategy is to use the various parts in your backfield to create match-ups in your favor. Well, what if Johnson is the match-up that’s always in their favor?

Sure, Theo Riddick is considered the pass-catching specialist and is very dangerous when he gets the ball in open space, but even that situation may not necessarily be completely locked down for Theo.

Johnson is a threat carrying the ball and as a receiver out of the backfield. There is virtually no situation that he can’t be used in. So while Riddick is the default answer in the passing game and former Eagle LeGarrette Blount is the default answer in short yardage situations, won’t Johnson steal some of those opportunities away from them because of how versatile he is?

Because of all the effort to improve the ground game and the self-imposed mandate that Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia have charged themselves with to balance the offense and run the ball, the Lions will stick with the ground game more so than in the past, and one gets the impression that there should be more success than there has been in the past as well.

The question is will the running back by committee be an effective tool that allows the Lions to have success on the ground and move the ball efficiently as well as explosive on offense? Or will one back like Kerryon Johnson separate himself so much from the pack that it is impossible not to lean on him to carry the load?

Kerryon Johnson looks the part, but after only one preseason game he still has to prove he can do it week after week. But if he does, then the ground game may turn into Kerryon and the committee of backs who give him a breather.

Which technically is still a committee, right?