Detroit Lions running back Kerryon Johnson spoke to the media on Wednesday and explained why he is looking forward to sharing a backfield with second-round rookie D’Andre Swift.
“I’m excited, he’s a phenomenal player,” Johnson said. “I remember playing against him in college and I hated seeing him — every time. We played against Nick Chubb and Sony (Michel), and I’m telling you when that kid (Swift) stepped on the field, he’s lightning in a bottle. He’s threatening to go 80-yards, 70-, 60-, every time he touched it.
“So, I’m excited. I can learn from him, he can learn from me, we can all learn from each other and we can all get better and win some games.”
Players can often feel pressure when teams invest in other talents at their position but the Lions deploy their running backs in a rotation, so when Johnson was asked if he felt he was “put on notice” with the Lions drafting another player at his position so high in the draft, Johnson took the opposite approach.
“Look, I knew we were going to draft another running back eventually. I think we got, in my opinion, definitely one of the top two (in this draft class). I love having a running mate, I love winning games, and I think he can help us do that, so I wasn’t tripping at all.”
Johnson would go on to explain why he and Swift would complement each other in the backfield rather than being in direct competition.
“Obviously we are two different people. He’s a lot more elusive — I think everybody would agree to that. But just having multiple running backs that are capable of running the ball at an efficient level, — whether the style is different or the style is the same — it just takes the stress off one another.”
Johnson said he was happy with the depth at the position and noted that outside of the rookies, the other returning backs have all started in the NFL — Bo Scarbrough (5), Ty Johnson (1), and Wes Hill (1) — and he believes they will “all get along just fine.”