Detroit Lions: Ameer Abdullah to Texans for 6th Round pick
The Lions appeared to be trying showcase Abdullah for a trade during the preseason, as he saw extensive action with the first-team offense. But he’s still around, albeit as a weekly inactive, with Kerryon Johnson, LeGarrette Blount and Theo Riddick rendering him useless. An injury to one of those three would change things down the road, but the Lions can’t deal in hypothetical needs when they clearly have no use for Abdullah.
Fumble issues and a career yards per carry average of 3.8 don’t foretell a booming trade market for Abdullah. But he’s the kind of player another team could see as fixable, with memories of two 1,600-yard rushing seasons to cap his career at Nebraska to foster that optimism.
At first glance, with a rushing offense around or in the top-10 of the league running back isn’t a need for the Texans. But take away quarterback Deshuan Watson’s production, a roughly one-third of Houston’s rushing output (as of this writing anyway) goes with it. Lamar Miller is who he is a this point (3.9 yards per carry this year entering Week 5), and what kind of immediate form D’Onta Foreman will have coming off a torn Achilles is a big question.
Abdullah needs a change of scenery, and the Texans could use something to try and spark their running back group. Taking a cheap flier could be in order for Houston, and Detroit should take whatever it can get for a failed second-round pick.