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Detroit Lions third-year running back Ameer Abdullah was off to a strong start last season before he broke his foot in just the second game of the season.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

Note: This is an opinion piece by MLive.com's Nate Atkins.

ALLEN PARK -- The Lions didn't sign a running back before the draft, and they didn't take one with their first pick, or their fourth, or their ninth.

They signed one afterward, an undrafted Cincinnati product named Tion Green who will now fight to make the roster.

They didn't address a position that shuffled through four starters who combined to finish 30th in the league in yards and 27th in yards per carry.

Despite those numbers, and an offseason approach to providing Matthew Stafford a sound support system before he signs a mega contract, they passed on established veterans in free agency and numerous talented rookies they scouted prior to the draft. They let a drought of three straight years without a 100-yard individual rushing performance go without change.

Jim Caldwell said they did it because of the individual they're getting back this season.

"I believe this: I believe Ameer Abdullah, when he's healthy and rolling, he's awfully good," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. "Don't listen to me. Look at the numbers and see when he's on the field for you what he does."

A small sample size makes that a challenge. Abdullah played 16 games as a developing second-round rookie and then less than two last year before a foot injury ended his season and started the spin of running backs. What the 23-year-old could have been in his second year was a mystery, creating the dilemma the Lions had to answer this season to know whether to make wholesale changes or not.

Their decision was to pass on all the options that were constantly available to them, so now the numbers do matter.

Here are the good ones for Abdullah:

5.6.

16.6 and 6.9 percent.

31st.

0.

3.95 seconds.

Here are the bad numbers:

38.8.

5-9.

2.

5.

The numbers don't tell the full story with Abdullah. They don't for any running back and especially not for one who has played 18 games. Roster decisions are about projection more than production, and the Lions' hope is that their third-year running back will continue to grow in the running schemes and pass-protecting assignments they throw his way.

The numbers are what helped convince the Lions to not bolster the position in any way this offseason, rolling instead with a backfield of Abdullah, Riddick, Zach Zenner and Dwayne Washington. Running back is one of the cheaper additions a team can make in the draft, with players available in the middle rounds who are built for instant production as backups or situational players. Again and again, the Lions decided to pass.

They might just not feel complete in their evaluation of Abdullah or the rest of the guys in the room. They missed 20 combined games of tape on Abdullah and Riddick last season, and the numbers they do have showcase a team not built for immense rushing success no matter who was carrying the rock.

Their hope is that the high-dollar acquisitions of guard T.J. Lang and tackle Rick Wagner, the signing of blocking tight end Darren Fells and the growth of other young starters will result in an improved foundation to run the ball. They won't have continuity on their side this year, but they can hope the talent and availability around the position are better.

If so, the numbers Abdullah and Co. produce this season will provide the right look at whether the Lions have reliable options to run the ball or if they have a problem they need to make a priority. The numbers they currently have, the ones Caldwell points adamantly to, are much more of a mixed bag.