If the story last season for Kerryon Johnson was maximum impact on minimal carries, this season it's been the reverse.
Nevertheless, Johnson heads into Week 6 on pace to become the Lions' first 1000-yard rusher since Reggie Bush in 2013. The team has produced a total of four since the retirement of Barry Sanders, who reached -- and typically blew past -- the mark in all 10 years of his career.
Johnson, like Bush in 2013, might just eke it out.
"It'd be huge for myself, because I thought I could have got there last year," Johnson, who's on pace for 1,004 yards, said Thursday. "(If) a couple different things go well, obviously if the injury doesn't happen, probably could have got there.
"For me, that was a goal of mine in college, and I continue to keep that as a goal. It's hard to do in this league, 1,000 yards, very hard to do, so it's always kind of been a little dream, a little small goal of mine."
Johnson was indeed tracking toward the milestone as a rookie. He had 641 yards through 10 games (1,025-yard pace) before a knee injury ended his year. The difference in 2018 was efficiency. Johnson ranked second in the NFL in yards per carry (5.4) -- and 26th in carries per game (11.8). The fanbase shouted about it, rightly so, for much of the season.
Consider those splits in 2019. While Johnson's up to seventh in carries per game (18.5), he's down to 34th in yards per carry (3.4). The increase in attempts was to be expected under new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. The Lions wanted to emphasize the run, and so far they've done that. The decrease in efficiency, obviously, wasn't part of the plan.
The Lions insist their run game is close to breaking out. And they took a step in that direction in Week 4, piling up 186 yards on 35 carries (5.3 average) versus the Chiefs. Johnson was responsible for 125 of them, the third 100-yard game of his career.
For Johnson, the 100-yard threshold is important -- but so is getting there efficiently.
"I think it's 50-50 with that," he said. "You want to be efficient, but going over 100's a milestone in this league. You do that, your team is more than likely going to win, in my opinion."
He's right. When a player reaches the 100-yard mark this season, his team is 22-9. Last season, such teams went 81-26-1 -- a win rate of 75 percent. Not that this is a surprise. Teams in the lead tend to lean on the run. To which it's worth adding: good teams can run the ball.
The Lions want to be that kind of team. And Johnson wants to shoulder that load. He's getting the opportunities he was missing last year, which means 100 yards should be attainable every game. And 1,000 yards should be the aim for the season.
"I think that's kind of the baseline for every running back, when you're getting the proper amount of carries," Johnson said. "You're not going to get (1,000 yards) on, like, 100 carries, but any guy that's starting and getting 15, 20 carries a game, I think those are kind of bench numbers for him."
It's a bit of a surprise how heavily the Lions have leaned on Johnson, not that he has any problem with it. For one, he has a dicey history of injuries. Moreover, Matt Patricia has said repeatedly he doesn't believe in the bellcow back -- and that's just what Johnson is starting to become. He's on pace for 296 carries. The only running back last year to eclipse 300 was Ezekiel Elliott.
Patricia hinted the Lions were moving in this direction when they released C.J. Anderson last month. He said the ostensible absence of a 'big back' wasn't a concern: "We have a tremendous amount of trust in Kerryon, what we know he can do from a running back position." And on this sentiment, Patricia and the Lions have followed through. Johnson already has as many short-yardage carries -- within three yards of the sticks -- as he had all of last season: 15.
So far, he's held up. And this is just the kind of workload he was hoping for in his second season. Limits? Restrictions? Johnson made it pretty clear he was against that approach during training camp.
"Look, I'm healthy. That's all (Patricia) needs to know," Johnson said. "He's going to give me the ball as many times as I can take it. I mean, he's going to be smart about it, but I'm a running back. They pay me to run the ball. I love to run the ball. I play football to run the ball, so that's what I'm going to do."
He's done it at a rate reminiscent of his college days, if not with the efficiency he desires. That's the next step in the equation for Johnson and Detroit's rushing attack. The opportunities are there. Take care of each one, and 1,000 yards will take care of itself.
