Lions signing Adrian Peterson is bad news for D’Andre Swift

The Detroit Lions picked up Adrian Peterson.

The Washington Football Team decided to release Adrian Peterson in the name of getting younger players like Antonio Gibson and Bryce Love more touches. Due to Peterson’s production over the last few seasons in DC, he didn’t have to wait long to find out who his next employer would he.

Peterson signed with the Detroit Lions, citing familiarity with Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who was Peterson’s offensive coordinator for his first four seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings. Peterson’s arrival has to be concerning for D’Andre Swift, as the former second-round pick has to worry about losing touches to yet another back.

Adrian Peterson might take carries away from D’Andre Swift

Swift, picked in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Georgia, not only has Peterson and Kerryon Johnson to compete with, but also former Alabama sledgehammer Bo Scarbrough and Maryland playmaker Ty Johnson. To paraphrase the old football adage, when you have five running backs on the roster, you don’t have a running back.

Sure, Swift has been dealing with injuries, but the bill of goods he was sold was the idea of him and Johnson working in tandem, with the former Bulldog eventually taking the bulk of the carries. Instead, if for no other reason than the fact New England often adopts a committee approach to running backs, Matt Patricia decided to create another obstacle to playing time by signing Peterson. Would the Lions really spend the 35th pick in the draft on a third-string running back?

The Lions are going for a quantity over quality approach in their backfield this season, but this approach is counter-intuitive to their bloviations about how they were grooming Swift to take over the starting role. Instead, Patricia seems more content with letting a 35-year-old take most of the carries.