Two years ago, Kerryon Johnson showed up for his first training camp in Allen Park and made plays from the jump. Three weeks into the season, in a primetime game against the Patriots, he snapped a franchise rushing drought five years in the making. Injuries have changed the story since, but Johnson delivered on the potential he showed out of the gate.
Which brings us to D'Andre Swift. Is it too early to be excited? Is it too soon to wonder what kind of weapon he can be? The Lions are only two padded practices into training camp and Swift is jumping off the page. If Johnson showed off with the ball on the ground, Swift has stood out with the ball in the air. This dude knows how to go out for a pass.
And he could be a major problem for opposing defenses this fall.
Just ask Jarrad Davis. Or Jason Cabina or Elijah Lee. Swift smoked all three linebackers in one-on-one routes Tuesday. He didn't get a ton of opportunities as a pass-catcher at Georgia, but he made each one of them count. With the Lions, he's eager for more.
"It kind of started when I was younger, playing seven on seven, always had the great ability just to catch," Swift said. "I think I could have been used more at Georgia in the passing game. We just found ourselves ways to win games, so we just had to hand off the ball and win the grimy way, a little bit.
"That's something I want to definitely perfect at this level of football, just being used in a different amount of ways."
The Lions will give him the chance. Their primary pass-catcher out of the backfield last year, J.D. McKissic, is gone. Swift looks like a good complement to Johnson, who will likely shoulder more of the carries early on. The rookie can be the receiver they put in space. He turned 56 receptions into 516 yards over his final two seasons in college.
Who knows what he can do in Detroit surrounded by a host of proven pass-catchers and with Matthew Stafford throwing him the ball.
"I always took pride in anything like getting out of the backfield, creating mismatches against linebackers and just getting into open space and making people miss," Swift said. "Running crisp routes, catching the ball, it's something that I always like to do."
Swift has already taken some snaps with Detroit's first-team offense. Matt Patricia and the Lions downplay such alignments at this time of year, and downplay the idea of a starter at running back in general. But make no mistake, Swift is coming. He's an explosive player and by all accounts a fast learner.
In the words of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, "He can handle as much as you want to give him."
Here's betting the Lions want to give him a lot.
"We know there's different things that he can do in the passing game that we want to try to build on," Patricia said Tuesday. "Not that it's small steps, but we try to make sure we build it in a proper manner, and so far he's done an outstanding job of handling all that."
Soon enough, we'll get to see how defenses handle Swift.
