D'Andre Swift

It wasn't a bad rookie season by any means for Swift, as he finished as the 18th-ranked running back in half-PPR formats and did strong work as a receiver, totaling an impressive 1.58 yards per route run. New offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn made some waves with his comments about Jamaal Williams essentially playing as the primary back, but, even if true, we've seen backs in Lynn's system succeed as complementary pass-catching options. There are also plenty of vacated targets in Detroit and Jared Goff is sure to look for Swift as his safety net. Add it all up and Swift is a decent RB2 in half-PPR formats, but one with a fairly hard cap on his upside.

D'Andre Swift 'could touch the ball 20 times per game' and play in the slot

The Athletic's Chris Burke appeared on The Underdog Football Show With Josh Norris Monday, saying, "I think [D'Andre] Swift could touch the ball 20 times per game." Burke's interested to see if the Lions will use more two-back formations, adding, "[The Lions] don't even really have a slot receiver right now unless you're playing Quintez Cephus there as sorta a big slot or you're playing Hunter Bryant there, who they signed as an undrafted free agent last year."

Fantasy Impact

Burke continued, saying, "There's an opportunity for Swift [and] Jamaal Williams to sorta bump out there and play some slot receiver reps and I think that they will do that. They really want to play with some speed at the skill positions. They want to use the play-action like I mentioned. So, that's a space where they can create some mismatches. Like you said, Jamaal Williams is a really good running back and he can be a three-down guy. And Swift, we've seen what he can do. So, I think that those two and T.J. Hockenson - as you look at the roster - those are really the three guys that I think can end up handling a bulk of the workload." Burke added things will change if the Lions draft a receiver or Kyle Pitts in the first round but that the team needs to address the defense, as well. Burke is asked about Swift at the 17:30 mark of the podcast.