At some point, the Detroit Lions have to face the fact that running back Jahvid Best probably won’t play professional football ever again.
I say they need to address this fact sooner rather than later.
It seems that GM Martin Mayhew and the Detroit front office agrees with me, because the team is rumored to make a run at free agent running back Reggie Bush when free agency begins tomorrow.
The former Dolphin and Saint has proven to be one of the league’s elite pass catchers out of the backfield during his six-year career. His 2,730 yards and 29 touchdowns
Can Bush’s speed and elusiveness spark the Lions running game?
through the air are quite impressive for a running back.
As a runner, the guy rushed for nearly 1,000 yards in 2012 as well. I’m not saying Bush should get 20+ carries a game, because he shouldn’t. But his shifty style and prowess in the passing game would make him a nice complement to Mikel Leshoure and Joique Bell.
Is Bush an elite NFL running back? Absolutely not. But he is similar to Best in many ways, and fits the pass-heavy system that Detroit currently employs.
In order for the Lions to make a run at Bush, a couple things have to fall in place. First, they have to decide what to do at defensive end. Detroit certainly doesn’t want to start Lawrence Jackson and Willie Young at DE, so they need to re-sign Cliff Avril, commit to drafting an end in the top two rounds, or find another DE to sign as a free agent.
Of those options, I’m leaning toward getting a DE in the draft. There is much more talent in the draft than in free agency, and Avril will be too expensive for the Lions to get.
Next, Detroit must restructure Matthew Stafford’s contract. With less than $10 million of cap space to work with, Detroit doesn’t currently have the money to pay Bush, a free agent DB (which they need more than Reggie), and a draft class. Once Stafford re-works his deal, the Lions will have more money to work with and can make a legit run at Bush.
Reggie Bush is not Jahvid Best. But he has a similar skill set, and could bring a little electricity to a Lions team that lacked it from the running back position in 2012.
Follow me on twitter @ScottPeceny
About Scott Peceny
No way the Lions should throw any money at Reggie Bush. This strategy is basically taking the hired gun approach that has failed miserably in Motown since the acquisition of “chillin” Pat Swilling. Not saying Joique Bell and Mikel LeShore were All Pro but each gave us quality yards and knew how to get to the end zone at times. The money being paid to these two isn’t breaking the bank either. With Calvin Johnson being the focus of every defense you play against, this automatically brings opportunity to all the skill players we already have provided you have a O-coordinator who knows what they are doing. The only dollars that need to be spent on offense are for quality linemen.
This teams problems begin and end with defense. We have quality players on defense but zero strategy. The Lions would be money and wins ahead if they’d find a defensive coordinator who knew what they were doing. Lots of other teams in the NFL had better defenses than Detroit with far less talent.
The Lions fail to learn from their history and it looks as though they are going down the same road as usual. Without a defensive coordinator upgrade they can expect to be middle of the road or worse again this coming year.
I’m all for bringing Reggie in. Bell was our most explosive back last year and that is a scary fact. The O-line needs to be better for sure, but like you said, so do so many other areas of the team. I’d rather start with D and assume the offense is good enough to score some points.
The lions need to draft another O linemen in the first round. You want to upgrade our D… then draft another linemen so our average backs will be better also, how do you think emmitt smith got all those yards?? on his own? uhh NO. he played behind a great O line… if you have a great O line it makes every facet of your team better…. you can run the ball, make defenses respect the run game, winning time of possesion, and freeing up Calvin…. and it keeps your D fresh and rested on the bench!
I couldn’t agree more. The problem is that lines like that don’t come around every day. The Lions’ O-line needs work, but so does the rest of the team. I wouldn’t argue taking a lineman in the first round, but there are more pressing needs at CB, DE, and S