ALLEN PARK - For years, the Lions had a prototype for the back who would stand next to Matthew Stafford in the shotgun or pistol, but the old guard is changing.
An inefficiency in results will do that over time.
The Stafford offense has often operated with a scat back who could operate all levels of a pass-first offense while showing the moves in space to create when the dedication to throwing set up opportunities to run the ball. Reggie Bush, Kevin Smith, Jahvid Best, Theo Riddick, Ameer Abdullah. It all sounded good until the Lions stopped blocking anyone, and a pass-first team became an average team that couldn't do anything but pass.