Tracking former Lions

[Futureshock]

D’Andre Swift looking forward to being “piece to the puzzle” with Eagles

Posted by Josh Alper on May 4, 2023, 7:03 AM EDT

Getty Images

It wasn’t long after the Lions drafted running back Jahmyr Gibbs in the first round last Thursday that thoughts turned to what the deal might mean for D'Andre Swift.

The Lions had already signed David Montgomery as a free agent and using a high pick on Gibbs made it hard to see much of a future for Swift in Detroit. As it turned out, Swift wasn’t long for the team.

Swift was traded to the Eagles last Saturday and he said on Wednesday that there “was a lot of emotions all at one time” upon hearing the news. Swift was frustrated by how things played out in Detroit, but happy about going back to his hometown and, ultimately, fired up about being part of an offense that played in the Super Bowl last season.

“I kind of stayed up the last couple of nights just thinking about it,” Swift said, via EJ Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Like I said, great opportunity with this offensive line, this coaching staff — I’m in a great running back room, first and foremost, with the guys that have been here. I’m just excited to get to work each day and be a piece to the puzzle, that’s it.”

Boston Scott, Kenneth Gainwell, and Trey Sermon return in the backfield in Philadelphia and the Eagles added Rashaad Penny as a free agent, but the departure of Miles Sanders left a lot of snaps available and Swift should have a good chance of claiming a good chunk of them come the fall.
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Sooooo.... Dude got upset in the moment, had a hissy fit and there was no one here to calm him down and get him back on track. If Duce was here, Swift would still be here. It sounds like he kinda regrets it right now to a certain degree.

[whatever_gong82]

D’Andre Swift looking forward to being “piece to the puzzle” with Eagles

Posted by Josh Alper on May 4, 2023, 7:03 AM EDT

Getty Images

It wasn’t long after the Lions drafted running back Jahmyr Gibbs in the first round last Thursday that thoughts turned to what the deal might mean for D'Andre Swift.

The Lions had already signed David Montgomery as a free agent and using a high pick on Gibbs made it hard to see much of a future for Swift in Detroit. As it turned out, Swift wasn’t long for the team.

Swift was traded to the Eagles last Saturday and he said on Wednesday that there “was a lot of emotions all at one time” upon hearing the news. Swift was frustrated by how things played out in Detroit, but happy about going back to his hometown and, ultimately, fired up about being part of an offense that played in the Super Bowl last season.

“I kind of stayed up the last couple of nights just thinking about it,” Swift said, via EJ Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Like I said, great opportunity with this offensive line, this coaching staff — I’m in a great running back room, first and foremost, with the guys that have been here. I’m just excited to get to work each day and be a piece to the puzzle, that’s it.”

Boston Scott, Kenneth Gainwell, and Trey Sermon return in the backfield in Philadelphia and the Eagles added Rashaad Penny as a free agent, but the departure of Miles Sanders left a lot of snaps available and Swift should have a good chance of claiming a good chunk of them come the fall.
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Sooooo.... Dude got upset in the moment, had a hissy fit and there was no one here to calm him down and get him back on track. If Duce was here, Swift would still be here. It sounds like he kinda regrets it right now to a certain degree.

Swift wasn't available in a lot of the games he was sceduled to be in, and in a lot of games in which he played, he seemed tenative whenever he came back from an injury.

He was another Bob Quinn whiff of a draft pick. Talented, but overrated and not as good as he think he is.

I won't miss him in the slightest.

[Futureshock]

Would have ben nice to keep the wear and tear off all 3 backs. Lions fans have a purely linear way of looking at this. Swift vs Gibbs. But oddly, Holmes specifically said, unless you're calling him a liar, that the Gibbs pick had nothing to do with Swift.

He was not always healthy. No one's debating that. But when he was he was electric. Pulled our asses out of the fire and put a W in the win column at least 3 times last year. If that's overrated? I wish more of our guys were overrated.

I still do not understand the dynamic of shitting on each and every ex-Lion. And if you are expecting RBs to be eternally healthy you are going to be disappointed.

[chemiclord]

I don't know if Holmes was "lying," as much as Holmes had to know that Swift assuredly wasn't going to be okay with having his potential touches reduced in a make-or-break season for him.

Sure, Holmes no doubt had dreams that the three could co-exist, in the same way that I have dreams of motorboating Jessica Nigri while riding a unicorn overhead of an old school Metallica concert. But let's not pretend that the primary reason Gibbs was eventually the Lions choice is anything other than Holmes and Campbell looked at the sheer number of times Swift was either injured or limited and realized they couldn't rely on the guy, and that everyone involved knew it.

Did Swift take it badly? I honestly don't think so. He took it about as well as anyone could have expected; he rather quietly asked for a trade, and the Lions accommodated him in probably the best possible way (a way in which the vast overwhelming number of teams would not).

[CGVT]

I don't know if Holmes was "lying," as much as Holmes had to know that Swift assuredly wasn't going to be okay with having his potential touches reduced in a make-or-break season for him.

Sure, Holmes no doubt had dreams that the three could co-exist, in the same way that I have dreams of motorboating Jessica Nigri while riding a unicorn overhead of an old school Metallica concert. But let's not pretend that the primary reason Gibbs was eventually the Lions choice is anything other than Holmes and Campbell looked at the sheer number of times Swift was either injured or limited and realized they couldn't rely on the guy, and that everyone involved knew it.

Did Swift take it badly? I honestly don't think so. He took it about as well as anyone could have expected; he rather quietly asked for a trade, and the Lions accommodated him in probably the best possible way (a way in which the vast overwhelming number of teams would not).

This appears to be the way of the Lions now. Campbell talks to the players about "getting it" when he works them hard. He has already built a reputation of being a guy that cares about and takes care of his players and moves like this make that perception a reality

Building this type of reputation as a Coach, and more importantly as an organization, leads to Detroit becoming a place that players want to play. Of course winning will trump all, and money always talks, but this is a good development.

[whatever_gong82]

Would have ben nice to keep the wear and tear off all 3 backs. Lions fans have a purely linear way of looking at this. Swift vs Gibbs. But oddly, Holmes specifically said, unless you're calling him a liar, that the Gibbs pick had nothing to do with Swift.

He was not always healthy. No one's debating that. But when he was he was electric. Pulled our asses out of the fire and put a W in the win column at least 3 times last year. If that's overrated? I wish more of our guys were overrated.

I still do not understand the dynamic of shitting on each and every ex-Lion. And if you are expecting RBs to be eternally healthy you are going to be disappointed.

I was never impressed with D'Andre Swift in the time that he was here, compared to guys like Barry Sanders or even Billy Sims back in the day.

I'm not crapping on Swift. I just felt that Holmes drafted someone this year that has the potential to be the player that Swift isn't, and will be available for often.

Swift then asked to be traded, and got his wish. I'm not wishing any ill will towards him, but he's Philadelphia's problem now, not ours.

Even Billy Sims in his short tenure with Detroit was way more electric than Swift, and if they had the technology back then that saved Adrian Peterson's career, Sims would've ran for at least another 2-3 seasons.

This franchise had a unicorn in Barry Sanders that toiled for the Detroit Lions for 10 seasons and was relatively healthy except for that injury he got against the Chicago Bear on Thanksgving Day 1993 that forced him to miss the last 5 regular season games of that year.

Swift is gone. Next man up.

[foxhopper]

I remember Swift with some pretty good plays...cept for the one he dropped in the end zone his rookie year.

[Cody_Russell]

I don’t know. Feel like Swift was one of the better RBs in the NFL when he was perfectly healthy. At least in tier 2 after you get past Henry, Chubb, Taylor, etc… You can look at what Swift did week 1 vs the Eagles. The flashes of brilliance when his body was feeling up to the challenge on any given week. The issue has always been inconsistent vision and durability. Specifically in 2022, there were several weeks when Swift either avoided contact or easily fell down because of the nagging shoulder injury.

It was doubtful that Swift would be back in 2024 regardless of the draft. Hard to trust Swift given those well noted issues. At the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised if he balls out with the Eagles behind that OLine + the running threat of Hurts. If Swift magically keeps his body healthy for a rare occurrence, watch out. Hope it doesn’t come back to bite the Lions in a hypothetical Lions vs Eagles playoff game.

[whatever_gong82]

I don’t know. Feel like Swift was one of the better RBs in the NFL when he was perfectly healthy. At least in tier 2 after you get past Henry, Chubb, Taylor, etc… You can look at what Swift did week 1 vs the Eagles. The flashes of brilliance when his body was feeling up to the challenge on any given week. The issue has always been inconsistent vision and durability. Specifically in 2022, there were several weeks when Swift either avoided contact or easily fell down because of the nagging shoulder injury.

It was doubtful that Swift would be back in 2024 regardless of the draft. Hard to trust Swift given those well noted issues. At the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised if he balls out with the Eagles behind that OLine + the running threat of Hurts. If Swift magically keeps his body healthy for a rare occurrence, watch out. Hope it doesn’t come back to bite the Lions in a hypothetical Lions vs Eagles playoff game.

Our own Offensive line with Penei Sewell, Jonah Jackson and Taylor Decker (We did lose one player to Seattle) isn't exactly chopped liver either, and if he couldn't do it with ours, I wonder how he's going to be effective with Philly's line.

[Tom]

Isn’t Philly’s line considered to be the best?

[Futureshock]

Someone told me very early in the process about Carter, "What have they done to tell you this is someone they would want here?" Very true words. Well, you guys can twist and talk about your opinions, feelings and different scenarios in your minds, but Holmes SPECIFICALLY said 1. "We're BPA" and "When you start looking at depth charts you can get yourself in trouble." 2. "We didn't make the Gibbs pick with Swift in mind." Then I'm going to believe him over some random fan who thinks Swift is a bum and we had to replace him.

Swift has never been a bad egg or teammate. It is entirely possible that they didn't see Swift having a hissy fit and asking to leave. They're closer to him then any fan so again, I'll take Holmes' word.

Justification of the pick is they felt he was the best player (as they have said continually since) when they picked. I personally believe it was Witherspoon who they were going to take @ 6 until SEA picked him @ 5 and Gibbs was next on the board.

Is AA asking for a trade? Is Mitchell asking out? Is Gardner-Johnson pissed that he won't be resigned and is asking for a trade out?

I don't think they thought it would negatively effect Swift and if Staley were here I think he would have calmed the waters and Swift would be here.

Back to what I wrote originally, I would ask, what have Holmes did for you to question HIS words? Because it doesn't fit in your bash the ex-Lion mentality? Some of you think it's 1982 with one main back and 1 back-up. Lol Teams routinely run 3-5 RBs on any given game day. RB's take a literal beating. The more you can lessen the wear and tear on them the better.

I absolutely love the UDFA signing of Mo Ibrahim.

I have no faith in Reynolds as an effective 3rd back. Way too slow and he isn't exactly keeping healthy himself. AND Jackson was a much better, healthier and effective back. Why get rid of Swift for being "ineffective and hurt" but keep a much less effective back (Reynolds) who missed almost half the season, over a much better and healthier back in Jackson if those are concerns. Oh I know, the whole mentality changes when we want it to. Got it.

Whatever.

Truth, not an opinion, Swift played in 14 out of 17 games


Rushing....................GP CAR YDS AVG LNG BIG TD YDS/G FUM LST FD

Jamaal Williams RB 17 262 1,066 4.1 58 4 17 62.7 3 2 65
D'Andre Swift RB.....14 99 542 5.5 50 3 5 38.7 0 0 21
Justin Jackson RB....16 42 170 4.0 27 1 1 10.6 0 0 8
Craig Reynolds RB.... 9 23 102 4.4 21 1 0 11.3 0 0 4

LOVE the UDFA signing of Mo Ibrahim

You guys can go on with your normal bashing of ex-Lions. I'm out....

[Cody_Russell]

If Mo Ibrahim can prove to play some special teams, he has a legit shot. The Lions value special teams and the 3rd game day active RB has typically had to play some.

Remember from Hard Knocks, the Lions discussed cutting Reynolds. Reynolds’ locker room presence being a big reason why he was kept. Factoring in his ability to play special teams and be an ok RB when needed. There’s value there when you look at the whole picture with Reynolds.

Isn’t Philly’s line considered to be the best?

Yes. #1 by most metrics in 2022.

[Futureshock]

You better prey the top 2 backs stay healthy and they don't use Reynolds much.

[chemiclord]

Again, I wouldn't say Holmes is "lying," and more being selective with the truth. Sure, in a perfect world, Gibbs, Swift, and Montgomery would co-exist just fine, and in that sense, no... the Gibbs drafting was not an indicator of anything about Swift. Teams run 3 RBs all the time nowadays.

But, come on... Holmes HAD to know that Swift wasn't exactly going to accept that with a smile. Dude is in a make or break year, and Gibbs WOULD cut into his touches.

And the issue with Swift isn't merely games outright missed. It's also the games where he was limited in his touches, and games where he was cleared, but still very clearly favoring certain injuries. When he was 100%? Dude was electricity on the field... but he needed to be pretty close to 100% to flash much of anything. That's not terribly common in the NFL after Week 3.

Do I think Gibbs was on the Lions board regardless of Swift? Yep. But I do I think Swift's limitations made getting someone like Gibbs a higher priority than it normally would? Also yes.

[froot loops]

Players have a limited time to make cash in the NFL, they are in the NFL to make cash. It's a job to them.. People who post for decades on messages boards about the same team want the player to have the same passion for their team in the 3 or 4 seasons they might play for that team. But that's not realistic, Swift wants to maximize his ability to get cold hard cash. That's the business of sports.

Also, I think it would be better to have Swift for depth, I don't think it makes financial sense.