Detroit Lions have 'big hopes' for Ameer Abdullah, run game in 2018

ORLANDO — The Detroit Lions already have added one prominent name to their running back room in free agency, and there's a good chance they add one more in next month's NFL draft.

But general manager Bob Quinn insisted this week that Ameer Abdullah still has a place in what could be a crowded backfield this fall.

"Sure does," Quinn said at the NFL's annual meeting. "My first year Ameer had the (Lisfranc) injury, so he really didn’t do much. Last year, he was still kind of working through it, got back and we felt he was 100 percent. You can ask Ameer, he didn’t have a good enough year in terms of anyone’s expectations, his own, or mine or the team.

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"I think I’ve got big hopes for him this season, that he comes back and has a great offseason and is ready to roll."

Abdullah led the Lions with 552 yards rushing last season, but he averaged just 3.3 yards per carry and was a bit player down the stretch for a team that finished last in the NFL in rushing offense.

Quinn has said he plans to keep four or five running backs on the 53-man roster this fall, and he touted the current backfield's versatility this week.

Along with Abdullah, the Lions added LeGarrette Blount in free agency, re-signed Zach Zenner and return Theo Riddick, Tion Green and Dwayne Washington from last season.

Of that group, only Blount, who should play as a big back, and Riddick, the team's best receiving back, seem secure in their roles.

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Abdullah is arguably the best runner of the group, but his future could be complicated by the presence of a high draft pick and the need to keep a No. 4 back who contributes on special teams.

"I think with the stable of backs that we have with adding LeGarrette, I think we have a lot of versatility and guys that can kind of do different things, which is kind of what you need over the course of a long season," Quinn said.

Blount led the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in rushing last season, and new Lions coach Matt Patricia said Blount is capable of contributing as more than just a short-yardage pounder.

"I think on field, all the things that he brings kind of speaks for itself," said Patricia, who spent parts of four seasons with Blount with the New England Patriots. "I think it’s a guy that’s extremely hard to tackle. He’s a large man coming downhill very fast, but he also has the ability to get outside and get to the edge. Now, if you can get him out to those situations it’s a whole different level of a problem."

Patricia declined to say if the Lions will run primarily out of a zone or power-rushing scheme under holdover offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, but he said he expects a more balanced offense overall.

"I think that’s the way that you threaten a defense the most, so we certainly need to be balanced from that standpoint," Patricia said. "Jim Bob does a great job of understanding scheme all the way across the board, whether’s it’s run, pass, all of that, and he certainly was coaching extremely hard last year to try to get that all to work. So hopefully we’ll do a better job this year. I think just in general, hopefully everything will be different just by me being there as opposed to what it was last year and just a function of I’m a different person than what they had last year."

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