Lions news: Detroit views Kerryon Johnson as 'three-down player'

The Detroit Lions cannot be happier with rookie running back Kerryon Johnson as they believe they snagged a legit and true "three-down player."

Through much of the last several seasons, the Detroit Lions have lacked any essence of a true running game behind Pro Bowl quarterback Matthew Stafford. This led to the veteran signal-caller shouldering a huge offensive responsibility for much of his career.

However, Detriot appears to have potentially zoned in on who they believe could be their workhorse running back in rookie Kerryon Johnson. According to Dave Birkett of the Detriot Free Press, running backs coach David Walker voiced that he strongly believes that Johnson can be a legitimate three-down player in the backfield.

“He’s a guy that’s a three-down player,” running backs coach David Walker said this week. “(At Auburn he) showed he can play on first, second and third down. He showed he can play in all situations, which was important for us. Very productive in a very good league. So you see the physical qualities, the flexibility in terms of how you can use a guy like that, and then you have a chance to meet him and see how smart and driven he is. He’s kind of the type of player that fits with our program because he’s smart, he showed he’s productive and then he has flexibility in terms of first, second, third downs.”

This places a tremendous amount of expectations ahead of Johnson to potentially take ahold of the starting role in his first year as the Lions are hoping that he can be their first 1,000-yard rusher since Reggie Bush did so back in the 2013 campaign. The organization has had the fairest of luck over the years with several other promising young running backs flame out such as Mikel Leshoure, Jahvid Best, and now Ameer Abdullah to an extent.

If Johnson can prove that he can step in to provide dependable production next season, it could see him quickly latch onto a significant role in the offense. He will have competition for playing time in the backfield alongside Abdullah and offseason addition LeGarrette Blount.

Nonetheless, the 20-year-old is entering a situation where he could quickly prosper by finally providing balance to the Lions' offense that has lacked for years.