Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

Theo Riddick emerged as one of the best pass-catching running backs in the NFL with 80 receptions last year, but for most of his first three season, he has been an afterthought in the rushing department.

With Ameer Abdullah out all spring recovering from shoulder surgery, Riddick has worked as the Lions’ No. 1 running back during organized team activities, and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said Thursday he expects Riddick to be a bigger factor in the run game this fall.

“Yeah, I believe he will,” Cooter said. “We’re still kind of ironing that out and getting all our reps out here and kind of letting it shake out how it shakes out. But I think Theo can be a really successful runner.”

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Riddick has 72 carries for 209 yards in his NFL career – he has five times as many receiving yards on 118 career catches – and hasn’t been nearly as slippery taking handoffs as he is catching the ball out of the backfield.

A wide receiver for part of his college career at Notre Dame, Riddick lacks the vision and instincts of more polished backs like Abdullah, but he gives defenses fits when he gets in space.

“Obviously, all you guys know it, he caught the ball really well last year, was really successful for us in the pass game, and we’ve got to find a better way to let him be successful in the run game,” Cooter said. “I think he’s doing a really good job learning and executing and getting better out here, and I see him making strides in the run game.”

Abdullah, who played through a torn labrum in his shoulder late last season, is expected to be ready for the start of training camp next month and will enter the season as the Lions’ No. 1 running back.

Veteran Stevan Ridley and second-year pro Zach Zenner will vie for carries in a backup role.

But Riddick, already the Lions’ top third-down option, had two of the three biggest rushing workloads of his career – modest six- and seven-carry days – after Cooter took over as offensive coordinator midway through last year, and could be ticketed for a bigger role this fall.

“I’m a big believer in reps,” Cooter said. “I get better at things as I do them 10 times, 20 times, 100 times. I think everybody kind of does. There’s some naturals out there, so the more reps he gets receiving a handoff and reading an outside zone or whatever run play you want to talk about, he’s going to get better at that and we can see it out here. And I see it the more reps he gets, the better he’s getting.”

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Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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