The Detroit Lions selected Georgia running back D’Andre Swift with the 35th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Swift will likely get the bulk of the touches at the running back position going forward, even with former Auburn ball carrier Kerryon Johnson, who’s had a solid start to his NFL career, on the roster.
Johnson is a good player, but there’s a reason Swift was taken by Detroit in the second round.
Fans have begun suggesting that Swift is coming for that starting position, but it appears Johnson harbors no animosity toward Swift. He may be growing tired of hearing about it, but at the end of the day they are teammates and it seems he genuinely wants Swift to succeed.
@LionsFanReport, a Lions Twitter fan account, tweeted a photo of Johnson enjoying the beach, coupled with a photo of Swift working with fellow Bulldog and quarterback Matthew Stafford.
The fan account was suggesting that Swift is coming for Johnson’s starting job.
“I assure you it’s scientifically possible to workout and NOT post about it…I’m with the ignorance tho if you wanna get started,” Johnson wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
I assure you it’s scientifically possible to workout and NOT post about it…I’m with the ignorance tho if you wanna get started https://t.co/AbXU4SNTnx
— Kerryon Johnson (@AyeyoKEJO) May 16, 2020
Johnson made it clear that he looks forward to working with Swift, rather than against him.
“Like imma want him to fail so i can succeed? Lmao that’s not how it works…they just don’t understand,” Johnson followed up on Twitter.
Like imma want him to fail so i can succeed? Lmao that’s not how it works…they just don’t understand https://t.co/L20ASQ0gUM
— Kerryon Johnson (@AyeyoKEJO) May 16, 2020
Johnson was looking like one of the NFL’s best young running backs during his first two seasons. However, injuries cut both of his seasons short.
At Auburn, Johnson was a problem for Georgia in the Tigers’ home win over the Bulldogs in 2017. In that Auburn blowout, Johnson took 32 carries for 167 yards and had two catches for 66 yards and a touchdown.
But the second time around, in the SEC Championship Game, Johnson was playing through a shoulder injury that he suffered against Alabama the week prior. In Georgia’s 28-7 win, Johnson only had 44 yards. It was Swift, though, who led all rushers with 88 yards that game. A freshman, Swift took a 64 yard sprint to the house in one of the most iconic plays of the Kirby Smart era.
SWIFT INDEED pic.twitter.com/Faw9APj4pf
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) December 3, 2017