Tag: d’andre swift

Lions Wire Fantasy Football Weekly: 2021 Week 1 Preview

Our Derek Okrie breaks down the Week 1 fantasy football slate

The 2021 NFL Season is finally here, and that means the actual fantasy football season kicks off too. The off-season was the time to draft your roster and set your team up for success, but now the games count both in the NFL and in fantasy football.

Your draft is complete, maybe you have made a couple of trades, and now it is time to set your roster. Take a look at your opponent’s team and see how you stack up. Everyone loves their fantasy team heading into Week 1 and everyone has hope. Before your fantasy team hits the field, just remember to compete hard to win while also enjoying the entire season.

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Lions vs 49ers fantasy focus

The Detroit Lions have a similar mindset to fantasy owners. They have created their new roster all off-season and now it is time to see what they have on Sunday. New Head Coach Dan Campbell is excited to get things started and he has some very interesting fantasy football players on the offensive side of the ball to unleash.

D’Andre Swift has been dealing with injuries throughout Traning Camp, but the word is that he is healthy and ready to start the season as the lead running back in Detroit. Expect him to catch a ton more passes in this new offense even if the touchdowns aren’t there as they were in his rookie year where he scored a ton.

The big question for the Lions from a fantasy perspective is the wide receiver position. Will someone emerge as the top target and be dynamic in the passing game? In fantasy football, Tyrell Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown are the two main candidates to be fantasy factors.

The 49ers have a top-flight tight end in George Kittle, a productive running back in Raheem Mostert, two dynamic wide receivers, and the ultimate wildcard in rookie quarterback Trey Lance. The Detroit Lions defense will have their hands full.

Most NFL offenses seem to start a bit slow in Week 1. Looking at this matchup, some experts have it as a blowout and others see it as a low-scoring game where the Lions could shock the world. This doesn’t feel as if it is a fantasy bonanza by any means, but there are some premier players that could put up big numbers. Can’t wait to see what happens in this game and how it impacts your fantasy team.

Start
Matthew Stafford (QB Rams)
Gus Edwards (RB Ravens)
Laviska Shenault Jr. (WR Jaguars)
George Kittle (TE 49ers)

Sit
Ryan Fitzpatrick (QB Washington)
Johnathan Taylor (RB Colts)
Allen Robinson (WR Bears)
Austin Hooper (TE Browns)

Top 3 projected players by position

Quarterbacks
Kyler Murray, Cardinals
Lamar Jackson, Ravens
Tom Brady, Buccaneers

Running Backs
Dalvin Cook, Vikings
Christian McCaffrey, Panthers
Derrick Henry, Titans

Wide Receivers
Davante Adams, Packers
Tyreek Hill, Chiefs
DeAndre Hopkins, Cardinals

Tight Ends
Travis Kelce, Chiefs
George Kittle, 49ers
Darren Waller, Raiders

Team Defenses
Broncos
Rams
Dolphins

Kickers
Harrison Butker, Chiefs
Matt Gay, Rams
Justin Tucker, Ravens

Waiver wire options

Derek Carr (QB Raiders)
Carson Wentz (QB Colts)
Phillip Lindsay (RB Texans)
Sony Michel (RB Rams)
Terrace Marshall (WR Panthers)
Jakobi Myers (WR Patriots)
Anthony Firkser (TE Titans)
Cole Kmet (TE Bears)

Intriguing games and players in Week 1

(Week 1 Bye Weeks: None) 

Dallas at Tampa Bay, Thursday 8:20 PM, EST

  • DAL: Dak Prescott (QB), CeeDee Lamb (WR)
  • TB: Tom Brady (QB), Chris Godwin (WR)

Pittsburgh at Buffalo, Sunday 1:00 PM, EST

  • PIT: Najee Harris (RB), Diontae Johnson (WR)
  • BUF: Josh Allen (QB), Zach Moss (RB)

San Francisco at Detroit, Sunday 1:00 PM, EST

  • SF: George Kittle (TE), Deebo Samuel (WR)
  • DET: D’Andre Swift (RB), T.J. Hockenson (TE)

Cleveland at Kansas City, Sunday 4:25 PM, EST

  • CLE: Odell Beckham Jr (WR), Baker Mayfield (QB)
  • KC: Patrick Mahomes (QB), Travis Kelce (TE)

Miami at New England, Sunday 4:25 PM, EST

  • MIA: Jaylen Waddle (WR), Miles Gaskin (RB)
  • NE: Damien Harris (RB), Jonnu Smith (TE)

Chicago at LA Rams, Sunday 8:20 PM, EST

  • CHI: David Montgomery (RB), Cole Kmet (TE)
  • LAR: Matthew Stafford (QB), Cooper Kupp (WR)

Baltimore at Las Vegas, Monday 8:15 PM, EST

  • BAL: Lamar Jackson (QB), Mark Andrews (TE)
  • CIN: Joe Mixon (RB), Tee Higgins (WR)

Bottom Line

Football is back. Fantasy football is back. Set your lineup, keep your fingers crossed that your top selections do not get injured, do everything you can to beat your opponent, and most importantly “enjoy the ride” as Dan Campbell has told his Lions team.

Lions injury update: D’Andre Swift full go, 5 players limited in practice

Both D’Andre Swift and T.J. Hockenson were full participants after missing much of the preseason with injuries

We have our first official injury report for the 2021 season. The Lions released the practice status report following Wednesday’s prep session for the Week 1 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.

The good news: The team’s two top offensive weapons were full participants. Running back D’Andre Swift (groin) and tight end T.J. Hockenson (shoulder) are looking good after missing time in the preseason with their respective injuries.

The not-so-good news: Five other Lions were limited participants in Wednesday’s practice.

  • DE Michael Brockers (shoulder)
  • LT Taylor Decker (finger)
  • DE Levi Onwuzurike (hip)
  • CB A.J. Parker (shoulder)
  • DE Nick Williams (elbow)

Brocker, Onwuzurike and Williams all play the same spot, which leaves the Lions perilously thin at defensive end if they are unable to go on Sunday. The injuries to Brockers and Onwuzurike have lingered throughout the offseason programs and have been presented as more precautionary inactivity than injuries that would sideline them for games.

Sean Payton’s influence an undercurrent in Dan Campbell’s first Lions presser

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton taught Dan Campbell what ideas made his offense elite, and now Campbell is teaching the Detroit Lions.

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It didn’t take Dan Campbell long to step out of Sean Payton’s shadow. The former New Orleans Saints tight ends coach reveled in his first press conference as head coach of the Detroit Lions, sending shockwaves throughout social media for his enthusiastic tough-guy act. But too many observers hooked onto the wrong cues, like his spiel on biting opponents’ knee caps and punching them in the face.

That was all for show; Campbell admitted as much, noting that the reporters covering the team have heard it all before and that it’s really more to help him connect with his players and set the tone with potential free agents, few of whom have even met him before. The really interesting information popped up whenever Campbell took a second to breathe and discuss the X’s and O’s of football.

And that’s where we saw what he’s learned from Payton the last few years. Campbell stressed a need to put his best players in positions to use their best skills. One of the first names he discussed was D’Andre Swift, Detroit’s 35th overall draft pick in 2020 who the last Lions staff played behind a declining Adrian Peterson.

Campbell likened Swift to Alvin Kamara, saying of his vision for a play-caller: “I want a coordinator who knows how to get Swift in space, use him in the slot,” getting his dynamic running back matched up with linebackers in coverage. Swift averaged 1.58 yards per routes run last year, good for fifth-best in the league among running backs with 50 or more targets (per Pro Football Focus), but he only lined up in the slot 11 times all season, and just once in the Lions’ final four games. Having seen the damage Kamara can do firsthand (a league-leading 2.19 yards per routes run in 2020), Campbell is smart to see an area the Lions can improve quickly.

And that isn’t something he came up with on the fly for his introduction to Lions faithful. That versatility is vital to creating mismatches against defenders, which is one of Payton’s core philosophies on offense. Campbell illustrated the idea to the Athletic’s Jeff Duncan: “We’re just trying to get Mike Thomas on your worst guy. We’re trying to get Alvin Kamara on one of your linebackers. We’re trying to get Jared Cook on your freakin’ donkey, and we’ll see if you can cover him. That’s what we do.”

The strategy has worked for decades in New Orleans, and now Campbell wants to import it to Detroit. The Lions have a great quarterback in Matthew Stafford, but his supporting cast is nothing to sleep on. Wide receiver Kenny Golladay had a down year because of injuries but still managed to average 16.9 yards per catch. Tight end T.J. Hockenson was voted into the Pro Bowl after catching 67 passes for 723 yards. There’s plenty of pass-catching talent for Campbell to work with, and he’s clearly eager to maximize it.

So don’t get distracted by the buzz words, coach-speak, and flashbacks to his Oklahoma drills as Miami Dolphins interim coach. There’s more at work here than you’ll see in a blurb on Twitter, and it shouldn’t shock anyone if Campbell ends up saying the dumb things while doing the smart things. Maybe he’ll become the first branch of Payton’s coaching tree to really come into bloom.

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