On Thursday, I made the argument that Detroit Lions running back Ameer Abdullah should become more of a three-down back, considering he doesn’t have a single third down carry this entire season.
But I wasn’t the only one to suggest something like that. Abdullah talked to reporters on Thursday and made a case for himself, too. "I feel like I’m a good player," Abdullah said per the Detroit Free Press. "And I wouldn’t be standing in front of you guys if I didn’t bring something to the table."
Abdullah said specifically he thought he could take goal line carries to help out Detroit’s red zone woes, though admitted it isn’t his job to decide such things and is willing to do whatever the coaches tell him. So today’s Question of the Day is:
Do you think Ameer Abdullah should be getting significantly more touches, especially in the red zone?
My answer: As I said on Thursday, I absolutely think Abdullah could be doing at least as good of a job as Dwayne Washington or Zach Zenner. Abdullah is the most talented back on the team—capable of running, catching and even pass blocking—so keeping him off of the field makes no sense on key plays on third down or in the red zone.
Additionally, he can likely handle the extra snaps. Through seven games, he’s only playing 44.7 percent of offensive snaps. There’s no reason that number shouldn’t be at least close to 60 percent given Abdullah’s talent.
Abdullah hasn’t been as great as expected, but at 3.7 per carry, he’s clearly Detroit’s best option in their struggling running game. The more often he has the ball in his hand, the better off the Lions’ running game will be.
Your turn.