It’s OK to be skeptical. If you’re a Detroit Lions fan, it’s almost expected given how many times you’ve been burned before.
There was Jahvid Best, and Jim Schwartz’s infatuation with his YouTube videos. There was Mikel Leshoure, and that great week of training camp he had (until the hype shriveled up along with his Achilles tendon). Three years ago, it was Ameer Abdullah and then defensive coordinator Teryl Austin stoking the fire with a passing comment that tackling Abdullah was like “grasping at air.”
None of the Lions’ last three high-draft-pick running backs has amounted to much, and two of those three are already onto their second careers.