Detroit Lions: Why the Lions Backfield Will Prove Effective in 2011

The ongoing debate regarding the Detroit Lions' running game is very "chicken or egg?"

Does a great offensive line create a solid running game? Or do great running backs?

Can a skilled backfield make up for an average blocking line? Can a great line open holes for a running back with no burst or vision?

The answer, of course, is yes. On all counts.

Obviously, the best case scenario is to have both an All-Pro line and fantastic running backs. But that's a luxury few can afford in today's NFL, especially considering how much All-Pro linemen make. That doesn't mean only a few NFL teams ever field effective running games.

Which brings us to the Detroit Lions, who have overhauled every area of the team except offensive line in the last two years.

Dominic Raiola and Jeff Backus have been around for a decade, Stephen Peterman in entering his sixth season with the Lions and Gosder Cherilus has been around since he was drafted in 2008.

Rob Sims is the lone addition to the group since Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz took over, but he has been more of a pass-blocking anchor than a run-blocking bulldozer.

As a unit, the Lions' offensive line has been okay. Not great, but not terrible. That said, the only above-average run blocker on the entire line is Peterman, and he has been bothered by a foot injury for the last two years. The rest of the line can hold their ground, but generally struggles when it comes to moving defenders off the line.

So why, then, do I suggest that the Lions' run game is going to be successful?

Because there is potentially more talent in the Lions' backfield this year than there has been in more than a decade. And because the Lions can use words like "successful" and "effective" in a relative sense.

See, I don't expect the Lions to field a league-leading rushing attack. That's not what this is about. But the Lions finished last season ranked 23rd in rushing yards per game, and it's not for a lack of commitment to the run game.

It's because the backs in the Lions' backfield last year were career journeyman Maurice Morris, and Jahvid Best, who might have been more effective running on his hands for the latter half of the season.

In 2011, the Lions are looking at a newly healthy Jahvid Best, and Mikel Leshoure, widely considered the second-best running back in the draft.

The Leshoure pick pulled differing opinions because the Lions traded up to get him and because he wasn't the Lions' most obvious need position-wise. Still, nobody can justifiably argue that Leshoure isn't an upgrade from Morris.

Leshoure is a major upgrade for between-the-tackles running, and the only real resistance to the pick is from those who thought Best would have been fine for that role.

There is some validity to this, but the question isn't whether Best can run between the tackles (he can), it's whether he should.

Best is a little guy with big playmaking ability, and you need only check the highlight reel on the Week 2 game against the Eagles to confirm it.

But Best is most effective when given space and a broken field (i.e. where the offensive line makes a minimal amount of difference).

Leshoure is most effective when given the ball and a straight line forward.

Could Best be an effective between-the-tackles rusher? Most likely.

Could Leshoure be a good scat back? If he wanted to, maybe.

But the point of the Lions' "square peg" strategy has hinged on the coaching staff's ability to take underrated players and get the most out of them by putting them in situations where they can utilize their best attributes.

Best and Leshoure both slipped from where they were projected to go in the draft, and the Lions traded up to get each of them as potential steals.

The Lions relegated Best to a more-or-less scat back role, and he was so effective before his injuries, he was considered a runaway choice for Rookie of the Year through the first quarter of the season.

Now the Lions look to compliment a fully-recovered Best with a power option, the likes of which the Lions haven't had in years (do you really consider Smith or Morris to be legitimate "power options?"). And if you don't think the Lions needed a running back with power, you've never seen the Lions try to convert a short-yardage situation.

Does that mean the Lions wasted a second-round pick on a glorified fullback? Of course not. Leshoure is as effective picking up seven yards on 1st-and-10 as he is as getting two yards on third-and-one.

And sure, Leshoure's ability is based on his college years, which isn't always an accurate depiction. But it isn't as though Leshoure was running in a record-setting offense at Illinois. The Fighting Illini finished 2010 ranked 11th in overall rushing and 111th in overall passing.

Despite the team's inability to get anything going through the air, Leshoure had a 6.0 YPC average in an offense in which he was effectively the only weapon.

In Detroit, he won't have that problem. The Lions' offense is now loaded down with playmakers, with Leshoure being only the latest.

And hey, the kid has never had his offensive line to lean on before, so why would he have to start now?