Detroit Lions run game may be legit with Kerryon Johnson leading way

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Kerryon Johnson shines in Detroit Lions preseason debut Kerryon Johnson shined his preseason debut with the Detroit Lions on Friday, August 11, 2018.

OAKLAND, Calif. — A line of reporters was snaking toward Kerryon Johnson inside the cramped visitor’s locker room at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, where a maze of equipment bags they were being careful not to step on blanketed the floor.

That's when the Detroit Lions’ mature-beyond-his-years rookie running back looked up from his laundry and told the group: Stay right there, I’ll come to you.

After running and dodging and ducking and weaving all night, Johnson finally, willfully gave himself up.

It was the first and only time that has happened this preseason, and if what Johnson did in Friday’s exhibition-opening loss to the Oakland Raiders is any indication, it won’t happen again.

Johnson, the man the Lions have pinned their hopes on for a revamped running game, was as electric as advertised Friday.

He ran for 34 yards on seven carries. He caught four passes for 33 yards. He broke a scintillating 57-yard run that was called back on penalty. And in the process, he gave Lions fans reason to believe the myth of a balanced offense may really exist.

“Oh man,” tight end Hakeem Valles admired from a few stalls over. “That was awesome. That was awesome. Just to see him get off, even that one play that was a penalty, it’s like, ‘Whoa.’ I’ve seen that highlight before.' ”

Johnson was a human highlight film at Auburn, where he led the SEC in rushing despite missing two games with an injury last fall.

The Lions thought enough of him to trade up to take him in the second round of April’s draft, and Johnson has validated that decision so far with a strong training camp.

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He played a variety of roles against the Raiders’ mostly backup defense Friday, opening the game as the Lions’ third-down back behind LeGarrette Blount and getting the bulk of his carries in the second half, and he said his performance reconfirmed what he already knew about how his skills would transfer to the NFL.

“It just re-ensures me that it’s football at the end of the day,” Johnson said. “It’s a different level. Of course, people are better. Of course, it’s the NFL. But at the end of the day, it’s a game. It comes down to running, tackling and blocking, and it’s the same old game it always has been, the same old game it’s going to keep being.”

Johnson touched the ball 11 times Friday and had almost as many memorable plays.

He took a screen pass 19 yards to help set up a Lions field goal. He slithered away from two defenders to end up with no gain on a play that should have went for a loss. And of course he had that long run on a play that didn’t even count.

Early in the third quarter, Johnson took a third-and-1 handoff from Jake Rudock. He bounced outside, where he stiff-armed one defender, spun away from another, then reversed field only to get shoved out of bounds at the 5-yard line.

Asked what went through his head when he saw there was a flag on the play, Johnson said, “I was thinking, ‘Dang, I’m tired.’ ”

“We’ve seen a lot from Kerryon through the course of camp, and he certainly had some good plays out there,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said. “I think there was a couple plays that we still left out on the field that we got to do better on, but we just keep trying to improve him, the overall understanding of what we’re trying to do offensively.”

Johnson, whose tall frame, patient running style and versatility makes him like no other back on the Lions’ roster, said he was bothered by one play in particular on Friday.

With the Lions’ running their 2-minute offense late in the first half, Johnson caught a short pass from Rudock and tried juking Raiders cornerback Dexter McDonald rather than run him over. The decision saved the Lions some clock when he stepped out of bounds, but Rudock threw incomplete on the next play and the Lions had to punt.

“Next time, put the shoulder down,” Johnson said.

There will be a next time, too, because Johnson’s role will only expand from here.

Though Blount started Friday, Johnson could very well usurp that role once the regular season rolls around. In fact, the Lions force-fed Johnson 40 snaps Friday in an effort to see what they have in the rookie, a number Lions running backs reached just twice in a game last year (both times by Theo Riddick).

The usual caveats apply with a rookie: He's unproven. He did it against backups. He'll have to share time (perhaps with Blount and Riddick or Ameer Abdullah). And we've seen the hype machine spit out impostors before.

But the Lions believe they've got a good one in Johnson, and as first impressions go, it's hard to disagree.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!