There’s been plenty of talk about D’Andre Swift’s potential this year, and one writer has gone all-in to predict a huge fantasy campaign for him.
Detroit Lions running back D’Andre Swift topped 1,000 yards from scrimmage last season (1,069), despite missing four games, leaving the one he was injured in very early and seeing limited work in the two he played at the end of the season.
Swift’s potential has only been limited by his availability so far in his career. His fantasy potential is massive this year, but there’s certainly durability concerns until he proves otherwise. To that end, he appeared at offseason work looking noticeably more muscular.
Swift will be taken within the first 15-20 picks in most fantasy drafts, with that equation only changing in superflex leagues. So there’s a certain baseline expectation that will come with that, rooted in missing few if any games.
NBC Sports Edge has a 2022 projection for Swift.
No shortage of fantasy-scoring potential for this group of versatile running backs. 💪
— NBC Sports EDGE Football (@NBCSEdgeFB) August 14, 2022
See more projections for 2022: https://t.co/wC1K1lk2oK pic.twitter.com/pwM4ziHnTH
RotoBaller writer goes all-in with prediction for D’Andre Swift
Robert Lorge of RotoBaller recently came out with a list of “7 Bold Predictions for the 2022 Fantasy Football Season.” Second on the list was about Swift.
"D’Andre Swift Finishes as “The” RB1 With an Austin Ekeler-like TD Surge"
Swift was RB5 in full PPR through Week 11, before he was injured in Week 12. His 17-game pace at that time was 1,658 total yards, 90 catches and 10 total touchdowns.
The idea of an Austin Ekeler-style leap for Swift is not brand new (see Andy Behrens of Yahoo! back in January), but it could fit.
Ekeler missed six games in 2020, but he was a top-10 running back in PPR points per game. Better health seemed to bring better things, and maybe better than he had ever done before.
Ekeler wound up with 20 total touchdowns last year (12 rushing, eight receiving). An improved Lions’ offense is still not on the same level as the Chargers’ offense, with Lorge acknowledged while also setting a realistic bar for Swift.
"Expecting an Austin Ekeler touchdowns surge, who had 20 touchdowns in 2021, isn’t realistic considering the differences between the Chargers and Lions’ offenses, but what about 15?"
With 1,600 total yards, 80 catches and 13 total touchdowns last year, reasonably close to his pace through 10 games but for a spike in touchdowns, Swift would have been RB3 in PPR (318 fantasy points).
Swift has a place on lists of candidates to finish as “the RB1” in fantasy this year, and some of those lists with deeper dives into age, etc. tend to be short.