DETROIT -- While Jamaal Williams started and played every single snap with the Lions' first-team offense in their preseason debut Friday against the Bills, running back D'Andre Swift was nowhere to be seen. Not in uniform, not on the sideline.
In fact, Swift was in a suite high above the ground level of Ford Field with some other teammates, wearing a cap and watching his squad play without him.
"We're just being conservative with Swift," coach Dan Campbell explained after the game. "He's kind of had this groin, and so I chose to just sit him, rehab it, strengthen it a little bit. Because he was fighting through it, and he was doing a good job but it just didn't feel like it was getting better fast enough, so (we decided to) just sit him.
"He could have gone if we really, really needed it, but it's not worth it right now."
The talk around Swift has changed since the Lions signed Williams in March. Before then, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn referred to him as a "three-down back" while running backs coach Duce Staley suggested as many as "25 touches" could go Swift's way.
But since their minicamps, we've heard Lynn offer Williams as an "A" back and Swift as a "B" back. We've listened to Campbell reference them as a "one-two punch." Campbell even called Swift "pretty special" and Williams "the freakin' Energizer Bunny" in basically the same breath in an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio less than two weeks ago.
On Friday, Campbell doubled-down on the concept by saying he'd "love to mix" but would resist a time-share during a game if one back got hot.
"For example, if Jamaal gets a hot hand, well we still can use Swift," Campbell said. "You could put (Swift) in there to give Jamaal a (break) but also we could put Swift in other spots. There's other things he's able to do, we believe, in the pass game, and there's other trinkets we can do with him."
The only way Swift could get the kind of work he'll need to justify his mid-August top-30 ADP is if he gets a hot hand every week. That's hard to do if he's unavailable, like he's been for about a week because of his groin, or like he was for three games last season with a concussion and ensuing migraines.
And even when he's available in 2021, the coaches have all but promised since June he'll still share.
Splitting isn't anything new for Swift. With a different coaching staff, he didn't play on half of the Lions' snaps through his first six games in 2020, registering a 3.3 reception average and seeing more than 10 carries once.
Things went his way in his last seven matchups, however. Only then did Swift play at least 54% of the snaps six times, notching a far more appealing 11.3 carries and 3.7 receptions per game.
That might have to be the expectation for Swift this coming season, maybe even with fewer carries and a slight rise in receptions. Lynn does like to utilize his running backs in the passing game, after all.
But Swift ranked poorly in both Pro Football Focus' elusiveness metric (44th out of 73 qualifying running backs) and in yards after catch per reception (2.41, 64th out of 73 qualifying running backs). Todd Gurley actually rated better than Swift in both.
And, frankly, all of this might not matter. The Lions opened their preseason action with an ugly three-and-out, then were on the brink of another ugly six-play drive until a Bills penalty gifted them another first down. Jared Goff made a couple of good downfield throws including a needle-threader to tight end Darren Fells to jump-start the offense. End result? An inefficient 18-play, 70-yard drive to set up a field goal.
The truth is that the Lions have fielded a running back with at least 45 receptions in five of the past six seasons, including Swift in 2020. It's been a by-product of the team falling behind and taking what defenses give them -- Theo Riddick made a whole career out of it. But the Lions haven't had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2013 when Reggie Bush barely crossed the mark.
Unless something changes the minds of the new regime and one guy becomes the guy, the skid figures to continue.
It's all enough to let your friends draft Swift, especially in non- and half-PPR formats. You could shrug your shoulders and take him if he shows up in Round 4, but chances are someone will overvalue him and take him in late Round 2 or somewhere in Round 3.
Williams is the much better bargain at an ADP of roughly Round 10. He's already working with the first team and isn't a slouch when it comes to catching passes. His physical style may make him the Lions' preferred short-yardage/goal-line back.
Swift's receiving potential does keep him as a reputable starter in PPR, but with a tough schedule (they open the season against the 49ers, Packers, Ravens, Bears and Vikings) and a challenging path to becoming an every-down guy, he simply doesn't offer the glorious upside that he might have earlier this offseason.
