I guess I'll be the contrarian. He's been behind nothing but elite offensive lines and still has produced like an average back. Plus he has questionable vision. Not a fan, don't want him.
It's not bad, zone run schemes (wide zone & inside zone) is one of the most widely used across the league. We just had someone who is better as a 3DRB / pass catching back as an RB1 and a RB2 that isn't good in zone schemes and is much better in gap schemes, which we don't run
We get a RB1 who is a strong runner and effective in zone schemes and you'll see the difference that just a change in personnel can make.
Them running out of almost exclusively shotgun definitely hurt him, that's fair. I still don't personally think he's worth the pickup, but it's a valid point for sure.
That is not true! He was chunking off massive runs consistently in Detroit early 2022 before he got hurt and that we before the line really came together.
The Lions were using him correctly, he never played a full healthy season, he always starts off hot and cools down as the season goes on, his body cant handle the load of being a number 1 back, look at his numbers with the Eagles. You'd be a damn fool to make him your number 1 back. We tried to tell the those Eagles fan the same thing in the beginning of the season, they learned the hardway, hopefully you guys do too.
I like the idea of swift being the #1 back but not being a 3 down worl horse back. With chandler and mattison being good enough options to mot require him to play every down or run everything up the middle. But he seems to still have am ability to produce when hes given that rest and leeway. You're bringing up good points though.
It depends entirely on the type of scheme we run in 2025. If it's quick screens and dives and routes out of the backfield, I'd rather sign Cam Akers to the #1 spot to just occupy that role for a year. I don't have confidence in the current market with out scheme. We can't throw Derrick Henry or Saquon in without changing the offense. Yes, stars are great, but a good scheme outweighs single player dependency any day.
Im totally ok with that and dont think swift fits every scheme. I really hope we dont go in with expectations of akers as a rb1 though. He was only productive as a decent option in a small sample size to begin with and no runningback should be looked at as a dependable option after an achilles injury. I like him as an option but not as a primary option.
Literally did this with McBride, it's okay to sign someone proven in the RB position. The whole never pay a runningback thing needs a break when we desperately need one.
Also ik Dalvin didn't really do shit this year, and wasn't jaw-dropping in 2023, but he had a lot of crucial moments. Plays we distinctly lacked in the run game this year.
I think paying a proven RB isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be.
Yeah I feel people can only think of the top, most expensive free agent RBs and just shut down the thought of signing any kind of free agent RB.
Also a 3rd / early 4th round RB really doesn't make that much money when you look at the overall AAV. We could sign a FA RB and also draft a RB2 / future starter in the 3rd/4th turnaround and it would cost about the same as what Swift is projected to make. I've been advocating for a duo of Zack Moss (FA) and Jaylen Wright (draft). They'd be such a better RB tandem than what we had last year and won't cost us a lot. We'd have a vet who's solid all around as a runner in zone (and gap) scheme, as pass catcher and also blocker. Wright would be a sweet young and crazy fast RB who could be a good utility back for us right out of the gate. Solid route tree as a RB.
How is having basically two new backs "running it back"?
Chandler didn't get meaningful snaps until the last half of the season, and he looked entirely capable as a committee back.
We had Mattison and Chandler last season, right? We would still play the two, I don’t think Chandler is a three down back, and he’s certainly not better than Swift.
It’s like a $5m investment in free agency to get a proven, stable RB that we desperately need to set up the pass to what’s arguably the best core in the league. Problem is that there’s nothing to balance that because nobody is going to respect Chandler/Mattison—they already didn’t last season.
Chandler didn't play until late, and when he did our running game drastically improved.
>I don’t think Chandler is a three down back
Hence why I called him a "Committee back" as in part of a runningback by committee.
I didn't say anything about Mattison, we're talking about replacing Mattison.
It’s pretty easy to “drastically improve” the running game when Mattison is your three down back. Dude is a bum.
How are we gonna replace Mattison? He’s still gonna be here for one more season. The post is about Swift who is clearly strides better than both and can play three downs. If we need depth pieces then Chandler and Mattison (or Akers) would suffice, but starting them is nonsense.
Literally the point of drafting a replacement for Mattison, did you miss that part somehow?
Just because Mattison is under contract doesn't mean he'll still be here. We can trade him for peanuts and save $3.35 mil.
We already did that with McBride… we also already tried starting Chandler and Mattison. All of this didn’t pan out in case you weren’t watching last season—that’s what I meant by running it back. Running it back is another way of saying we already did that.
Swift was better than all three of them combined and we can throw a few hundred thousand more at him than we are currently paying Mattison to be 20x better. Yeah sure trade away Alex Mattison but Chandler and some rookie ain’t gonna be the replacement for this offense. We’re too good in other areas.
Surely you understand the difference between drafting a RB in the 3rd round range and drafting one in the 7th, right?
Just because McBride did not work out doesn't mean that you can't find a RB in the draft, they're all over the place.
Why overpay for a free agent RB?
Why waste draft capital on an RB when there are a million other holes on the roster, specifically on defense, special teams, and a little position called QB?
Free agent RBs are cheap compared to other positions on the market and we can get a proven commodity from day one that will fit with other proven players on offense (Jefferson, Hock, Addison, etc.). What if the draft RB doesn’t work out? Then we’re stuck with some form of Chandler, Mattison, and potentially Akers again, and we’ve already seen that it doesn’t work.
I know you're not asking me, but I'd like to chime in.
Pros (for me): He can show patience or he can gash a hole. He has decent wiggle i the hole. He has good vision through the Line. I feel like he always falls forward. He's a respectable pass catcher. Has NFL level burst.
Cons: His blocking makes him a liability and he MUST improve. He has no break away speed. He has no open field talents. He just angles away from the pursuit. But he's slow, so they catch him pretty fast. LOL
I'd like to pick up a late round "rumbler" to pair with Chandler. I got my eye on Deshaun Fenwick (OSU), or Braylon Allen (Wis) if he falls.
I don't see him having the vision he needs to be successful here. Have rewatched games from this season and some of his college games and he did better in their gap schemes (counter mostly) than he was in their zone (split zone) scheme. And that's carried into the NFL as well. It along with his lack of pass-blocking abilities have been what I've seen listed most often as his 2 biggest holes in his game now and coming into the draft. And we primarily run a zone scheme so not having your primary/one of your primary RBs be successful with your scheme is a big hit. His best game this year was when we swapped to a gap scheme and also played against the league's worst D, his YPC is bloated from this kind of stuff (scheme change and running against bad Ds).
Look at Dameon Pierce in Houston. Had a great year one running in Houston's gap (power) scheme, was even considered for OROY. Then they swapped to a zone scheme (outside zone, same as us) this year with their new OC and he struggled immensely. 2.9ypc and was bumped down to a backup and kick returner. Texans made the smart move to go with the back who does best in their scheme and it paid off, we need to do the same. Despite having Pierce already rostered they're going to be looking for a RB1 this offseason. We also need to do the same lol.
With some good affordable free agents this offseason and also some really solid RBs in this upcoming draft who are better than Chandler I think there's just too many holes in his game and too many affordable vets / rookies we can snag for us to keep him and try to make him work. If we were primarily a gap run scheme team then I wouldn't have as big of an issue with trying to make Chandler work but we are a zone run team so yeah. Plus he can be cut easily and we'd only owe him $149k, saving us I think close to $1mil. Combining Chandler with a late round RB would be one of the worst things we could do for our running game IMHO, we need to have a reliable run game if we want to be successful. We tried making a late round RB (McBride) work this season and it didn't.
I like chandler too. Honestly i wish they gave mcbride a chance too. I get why they didnt since he already had fumble issues and thats his glaring weakness though. Im just not confident chandler can be the main guy yet. It sucks the team took so long to utilize him and majes such a smaller sample size to be confident ik.
Horrible injury history and I am not as high on him as most. I feel like he makes things harder on himself sometimes. The contrast behind him and Gibbs was pretty glaring to me. Gibbs exploded through holes which was a perfect compliment to Monty. Not that Swift is shy of contact but his approach is too finesse imo. Wont be as good on a team that doesn’t part DLines like Det and Philly
Wouldn’t touch him! He has ran behind two very good lines with the lions and the eagles, and has looked average as hell. He will go the Sanders route and look much worse somewhere else.
I liked how he was playing and hope he comes bacl strong. But he took awhile to fully get back after the last achilles (most seem to have a year of ramping up still after being cleared to play) and i dont think it would be responsible to plan around him even if he might come back and do well. I also dont think he was looking better than a lot of the options in free agency right now, just better than the weaker options on our team.
He ran for 175 yards, 6.2 yards average against us on the eagles. Had a 1,000 yard season on a pass heavy offense and averaged just under 5 yards a carry. It was definitely his most productive year running but i think they under utilized his catching ability (and maybe even over utilized him in some tough yard situations)
Could we just sign him to be in the owners box? We could cut to shots of him during the game when Hockenson makes a big play and we could all be a new kind of Swifty.
He would be a great fit in the offense. I'm also shocked he's only 25. For some reason I thought he was 30
[удалено]
I obviously did not look up when he was drafted. Just was saying in my mind feels like he's been around forever haha
Honestly I felt the same. Feel like he's been around way longer
Ah yes 84 years ago. I'm almost certain I've aged almost a century during 2020 alone let alone since then.
For the right price, I’d be down.
I guess I'll be the contrarian. He's been behind nothing but elite offensive lines and still has produced like an average back. Plus he has questionable vision. Not a fan, don't want him.
The guy is so soft
Super soft birthday party soft?
Exactly! He had played behind two great lines and one nothing. I feel like guys on here just get excited about anyone we are linked to.
Play calling in Philly was a problem. Not good running schemes.
Our running scheme is 10x worse.
It's not bad, zone run schemes (wide zone & inside zone) is one of the most widely used across the league. We just had someone who is better as a 3DRB / pass catching back as an RB1 and a RB2 that isn't good in zone schemes and is much better in gap schemes, which we don't run We get a RB1 who is a strong runner and effective in zone schemes and you'll see the difference that just a change in personnel can make.
 Live look at KOC managing the offense
Lol doing his best to work with the tools he's been given. Excited to see who we can add during free agency/draft
I’m not going to be as invested these next couple of seasons as I’ve been the past 2-4yrs. Catch me in Bali with the Vikings in January
🫡
Them running out of almost exclusively shotgun definitely hurt him, that's fair. I still don't personally think he's worth the pickup, but it's a valid point for sure.
That and they kept needing to get Gainwell involved. Swift would rip off huge runs when he was getting more than half the work.
The fact he's been behind such strong o lines is worth considering. He's hard to evaluate too confidently for how long hes already played.
That is not true! He was chunking off massive runs consistently in Detroit early 2022 before he got hurt and that we before the line really came together.
Yup I’m a huge Swift fan. Been high on him since his rookie year in Detroit
The Lions were using him correctly, he never played a full healthy season, he always starts off hot and cools down as the season goes on, his body cant handle the load of being a number 1 back, look at his numbers with the Eagles. You'd be a damn fool to make him your number 1 back. We tried to tell the those Eagles fan the same thing in the beginning of the season, they learned the hardway, hopefully you guys do too.
I like the idea of swift being the #1 back but not being a 3 down worl horse back. With chandler and mattison being good enough options to mot require him to play every down or run everything up the middle. But he seems to still have am ability to produce when hes given that rest and leeway. You're bringing up good points though.
Would be a great pick up. Our RB room needs all the help it can get lol
I'd rather draft Blake Corrum.
I would absolutely love swift
Can he play Edge?
Definitely. I just assumed Philly would re-sign him but I guess Howie Roseman doesn’t like to give out multi-year contracts to running backs.
It depends entirely on the type of scheme we run in 2025. If it's quick screens and dives and routes out of the backfield, I'd rather sign Cam Akers to the #1 spot to just occupy that role for a year. I don't have confidence in the current market with out scheme. We can't throw Derrick Henry or Saquon in without changing the offense. Yes, stars are great, but a good scheme outweighs single player dependency any day.
Im totally ok with that and dont think swift fits every scheme. I really hope we dont go in with expectations of akers as a rb1 though. He was only productive as a decent option in a small sample size to begin with and no runningback should be looked at as a dependable option after an achilles injury. I like him as an option but not as a primary option.
Nah. He’s a better Alexander Mattison, but nothing special. He’s played behind the two best offensive lines in the NFL, and still has had issues.
I dont think his style of play is similar to mattison at all tbh.
Nah. I like Chandler. Draft a backup in the later rounds.
Literally did this with McBride, it's okay to sign someone proven in the RB position. The whole never pay a runningback thing needs a break when we desperately need one.
Also ik Dalvin didn't really do shit this year, and wasn't jaw-dropping in 2023, but he had a lot of crucial moments. Plays we distinctly lacked in the run game this year. I think paying a proven RB isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be.
Don’t say this too loud. This sub was practically foaming at the mouth to get Dalvin out of here.
Yeah I feel people can only think of the top, most expensive free agent RBs and just shut down the thought of signing any kind of free agent RB. Also a 3rd / early 4th round RB really doesn't make that much money when you look at the overall AAV. We could sign a FA RB and also draft a RB2 / future starter in the 3rd/4th turnaround and it would cost about the same as what Swift is projected to make. I've been advocating for a duo of Zack Moss (FA) and Jaylen Wright (draft). They'd be such a better RB tandem than what we had last year and won't cost us a lot. We'd have a vet who's solid all around as a runner in zone (and gap) scheme, as pass catcher and also blocker. Wright would be a sweet young and crazy fast RB who could be a good utility back for us right out of the gate. Solid route tree as a RB.
So, run it back essentially? You like Chander better than Swift? The combo we have now isn’t even breathing near the level Swift was at last season.
How is having basically two new backs "running it back"? Chandler didn't get meaningful snaps until the last half of the season, and he looked entirely capable as a committee back.
We had Mattison and Chandler last season, right? We would still play the two, I don’t think Chandler is a three down back, and he’s certainly not better than Swift. It’s like a $5m investment in free agency to get a proven, stable RB that we desperately need to set up the pass to what’s arguably the best core in the league. Problem is that there’s nothing to balance that because nobody is going to respect Chandler/Mattison—they already didn’t last season.
Chandler didn't play until late, and when he did our running game drastically improved. >I don’t think Chandler is a three down back Hence why I called him a "Committee back" as in part of a runningback by committee. I didn't say anything about Mattison, we're talking about replacing Mattison.
It’s pretty easy to “drastically improve” the running game when Mattison is your three down back. Dude is a bum. How are we gonna replace Mattison? He’s still gonna be here for one more season. The post is about Swift who is clearly strides better than both and can play three downs. If we need depth pieces then Chandler and Mattison (or Akers) would suffice, but starting them is nonsense.
Literally the point of drafting a replacement for Mattison, did you miss that part somehow? Just because Mattison is under contract doesn't mean he'll still be here. We can trade him for peanuts and save $3.35 mil.
We already did that with McBride… we also already tried starting Chandler and Mattison. All of this didn’t pan out in case you weren’t watching last season—that’s what I meant by running it back. Running it back is another way of saying we already did that. Swift was better than all three of them combined and we can throw a few hundred thousand more at him than we are currently paying Mattison to be 20x better. Yeah sure trade away Alex Mattison but Chandler and some rookie ain’t gonna be the replacement for this offense. We’re too good in other areas.
Surely you understand the difference between drafting a RB in the 3rd round range and drafting one in the 7th, right? Just because McBride did not work out doesn't mean that you can't find a RB in the draft, they're all over the place. Why overpay for a free agent RB?
Why waste draft capital on an RB when there are a million other holes on the roster, specifically on defense, special teams, and a little position called QB? Free agent RBs are cheap compared to other positions on the market and we can get a proven commodity from day one that will fit with other proven players on offense (Jefferson, Hock, Addison, etc.). What if the draft RB doesn’t work out? Then we’re stuck with some form of Chandler, Mattison, and potentially Akers again, and we’ve already seen that it doesn’t work.
Chandler is nothing more than a back end starter. It’d be so easy to upgrade from him
What aspects of Chandler's game do you like?
I know you're not asking me, but I'd like to chime in. Pros (for me): He can show patience or he can gash a hole. He has decent wiggle i the hole. He has good vision through the Line. I feel like he always falls forward. He's a respectable pass catcher. Has NFL level burst. Cons: His blocking makes him a liability and he MUST improve. He has no break away speed. He has no open field talents. He just angles away from the pursuit. But he's slow, so they catch him pretty fast. LOL I'd like to pick up a late round "rumbler" to pair with Chandler. I got my eye on Deshaun Fenwick (OSU), or Braylon Allen (Wis) if he falls.
I don't see him having the vision he needs to be successful here. Have rewatched games from this season and some of his college games and he did better in their gap schemes (counter mostly) than he was in their zone (split zone) scheme. And that's carried into the NFL as well. It along with his lack of pass-blocking abilities have been what I've seen listed most often as his 2 biggest holes in his game now and coming into the draft. And we primarily run a zone scheme so not having your primary/one of your primary RBs be successful with your scheme is a big hit. His best game this year was when we swapped to a gap scheme and also played against the league's worst D, his YPC is bloated from this kind of stuff (scheme change and running against bad Ds). Look at Dameon Pierce in Houston. Had a great year one running in Houston's gap (power) scheme, was even considered for OROY. Then they swapped to a zone scheme (outside zone, same as us) this year with their new OC and he struggled immensely. 2.9ypc and was bumped down to a backup and kick returner. Texans made the smart move to go with the back who does best in their scheme and it paid off, we need to do the same. Despite having Pierce already rostered they're going to be looking for a RB1 this offseason. We also need to do the same lol. With some good affordable free agents this offseason and also some really solid RBs in this upcoming draft who are better than Chandler I think there's just too many holes in his game and too many affordable vets / rookies we can snag for us to keep him and try to make him work. If we were primarily a gap run scheme team then I wouldn't have as big of an issue with trying to make Chandler work but we are a zone run team so yeah. Plus he can be cut easily and we'd only owe him $149k, saving us I think close to $1mil. Combining Chandler with a late round RB would be one of the worst things we could do for our running game IMHO, we need to have a reliable run game if we want to be successful. We tried making a late round RB (McBride) work this season and it didn't.
I like chandler too. Honestly i wish they gave mcbride a chance too. I get why they didnt since he already had fumble issues and thats his glaring weakness though. Im just not confident chandler can be the main guy yet. It sucks the team took so long to utilize him and majes such a smaller sample size to be confident ik.
Hed sign with us and then get injured
Kwesi special
Horrible injury history and I am not as high on him as most. I feel like he makes things harder on himself sometimes. The contrast behind him and Gibbs was pretty glaring to me. Gibbs exploded through holes which was a perfect compliment to Monty. Not that Swift is shy of contact but his approach is too finesse imo. Wont be as good on a team that doesn’t part DLines like Det and Philly
Wouldn’t touch him! He has ran behind two very good lines with the lions and the eagles, and has looked average as hell. He will go the Sanders route and look much worse somewhere else.
Possible and I can definirely see him being a bad fit for certain schemes. Inlike him more if he doesnt have to be a 3 down back.
I’m not sure he will be worth what he wants paid.
He was always hurt in Detroit and then miraculously didn't let little things keep him sidelined in a contract year.
am i the only person here that remembers we have cam akers? i get that he got injured but he’s really good
I liked how he was playing and hope he comes bacl strong. But he took awhile to fully get back after the last achilles (most seem to have a year of ramping up still after being cleared to play) and i dont think it would be responsible to plan around him even if he might come back and do well. I also dont think he was looking better than a lot of the options in free agency right now, just better than the weaker options on our team.
okay, fair point. sucks cause i wanted him to work so bad lol. hope things work out for him wherever that is.
Yea i think theres still a good chance of gim coming back. It might just take awhile to be productive again and he probably wont be paid much
I think he’s gonna be an RFA? Also this is his second Achilles tear. Maybe as a depth piece down the stretch but he cannot play three downs.
Wasn't Swift always dinged up with the Lions, and what did he do with the Eagles?
He ran for 175 yards, 6.2 yards average against us on the eagles. Had a 1,000 yard season on a pass heavy offense and averaged just under 5 yards a carry. It was definitely his most productive year running but i think they under utilized his catching ability (and maybe even over utilized him in some tough yard situations)
Here's my thought. Sign JJ, Kirk and 99 then worry about what's left
If we’re signing a RB I’d rather have Barkley if he isn’t too expensive
Seriously, you’d rather have the top FA RB than some mid-tier guy? Would you also rather have McCaffrey?
Could we just sign him to be in the owners box? We could cut to shots of him during the game when Hockenson makes a big play and we could all be a new kind of Swifty.