With Reggie Bush now in San Francisco, the Lions are seeking a complement to starting running back Joique Bell. It might just be a running back who’s already on the roster.
Theo Riddick, who has played for the Lions the last two years, seems to be in line for more work now that Bush is out.
“I do think that he’s going to improve,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said, via the Detroit News. “He has all of the qualities. If you’re smart, if you’re tough, if you’re disciplined, if you have a great work ethic, there’s improvement ahead. And he has all those things, so I think he’s going to improve. And I think he’ll force us to get him the ball a little bit more in some situations.”
Riddick has shown some promise as a receiver out of the backfield and lined up in the slot, but as a runner, if Riddick “has all of the qualities,” he sure hasn’t shown it yet. In two NFL seasons Riddick has played in 28 games and carried only 29 times for 76 yards, a 2.6-yard average. The longest run of his career went for nine yards.
No one played particularly well in the Lions’ running game last year. Detroit ranked 28th in both rushing yards and yards per carry last season. The Lions need someone to do better than that in 2015. Maybe that someone can be Riddick.