Early in the season, it was the fantasy football community deriding the lack of usage for Jahmyr Gibbs. More recently, it would be nice to see Jameson Williams get more targets. But there's only one football, and the Lions have plenty of weapons (Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta, David Montgomery) to get touches for with a finite number of plays in a game to do it.
It was LaPorta's moment to shine in Week 13 against the New Orleans Saints (nine receptions for 140 yards), as he accounted for more than 40 percent of the Lions' offense and nearly 70 percent of the passing game production.
As a result, St. Brown had season-lows across the board (six targets, two catches for 49 yards), though one of his catches went for a touchdown. Gibbs also had his lowest snap share in several weeks, and his 10 total opportunities were his lowest since Week 1.
Ben Johnson notes balancing act he faces with so many weapons in Lions' offense
Johnson did his typical weekly session with the media on Thursday, and he cited the obvious circumstances within a game that dictate play-calling and who's getting opportunities.
"Within the circumstance of the game, it's just an ebb and flow. May or may not try to just dial it up to get it in someone's hands. Other times, it might be, hey, I think they're gonna be in this defense or we want to attack them this way," Johnson said. "It's a balancing act right now. It's a blessing and a curse to have this many talented skill players....
"That's where, each week, you're all gonna have plays in, and someone's probably gonna be not as happy that they're not touching the ball enough," Johnson explained. "We just try to cycle it around each week. We've got a lot of dynamic playmakers, and that's the challenge for us right now."
St. Brown, for his part, does not seem overly worried about getting loads of targets every game as he draws more double teams.
"It’s both. Frustration and respect,” St. Brown said. “I still want to do my thing and help my team win. But I respect it, you know, they want to double me. They can double me all they want, we got other guys that can go make a play.”
Having "too many" good players is a good problem to have, and definitely better than the alternative. And if we're being honest, Johnson has done a pretty good job keeping all the Lions' offensive weapons involved.