D'ANDRE SWIFT - RB DETROIT LIONS
Sit Him
Another week is on the books, and the decisions made in this half of the season become even more crucial. You already know who you can rely on to be top players, so you’re going to start them no matter what. These are guys like Calvin Ridley, Patrick Mahomes and Derrick Henry. They may not have a great week here or there, but unless they’re injured, you can’t put them on your bench for fear of them going off as they should.
These articles are more focused on those iffy players that could go either way and are really matchup dependent. They are like the good character actors such as Margo Martindale or Stephen Tobolowsky who really add a well roundedness to a movie, but they don’t make or break the film. These are more of the flex players who can cycle through your bench and you plug and play when needed.
This week, I suggest sitting D’andre Swift. In order to explain why, I’m just going to lay out some statistics on both sides. I’ll start with Swift. Swift has had three really good games in a row for the Detroit Lions, scoring around 15 points against the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons. In between those games, he nearly scored 30 points against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has a touchdown in each of those games and against the Jaguars, he had two. He also ran for over 100 yards in that game. That is incredibly impressive, and you might be thinking why I would sit him then, given these really good numbers. Here’s why; the Lions are going against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have one of the best defenses in the league and to prove it, here are their stats. The Colts have allowed 530 rushing yards in six games which is 3rd in the NFL, they have allowed .7 touchdowns on the ground per game which is 4th overall and in away games, have allowed no rushing touchdowns. Guess where the game is this week. That’s right, it’s in Detroit. I know they are coming off a bad game against the Cincinnati Bengals, but the Bengals have shown they can score a lot of points. The Colts have also had a bye week to prepare and get focused for a muddled Lion's backfield.
To add to the point, here are some stats from Swift's good games this season. The Saints are ranked 8th against the run, which is pretty good, but Swift caught his touchdown in that game and had 52 yards total. The Jaguars rank in the bottom five in rushing defense so they were practically a gimme and the Falcons allowed him less than 50 yards total. He is touchdown dependent, but as I said earlier, the Colts have not allowed a rushing touchdown when on the road. I expect them to continue that streak this weekend, so put someone else in instead of D’Andre Swift.
