Thursday open thread: Which career-shortened Lions running back do you miss the most?

It’s no secret the Detroit Lions haven’t had the best luck with running back position since Barry Sanders retired in 1999.

It feels like over the last decade that the position has almost had a curse on it.

Just think about it.

The Lions drafted Jahvid Best in the first round of the 2010 draft to spark a new-look offense with Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson.

Unfortunately for the Lions and Best his career was cut short by a series of brain injuries.

So that’s one highly drafted running back down.

Next came Mikel Leshoure. He was drafted in the second round of 2011 to pair with Best or eventually take the lead role in the backfield. The injury bug, however, crept in again. This time slashing Leshoure’s achilles tendon and missing his entire rookie season.

After his injury, Leshoure never looked the same. His explosiveness was zapped and he ended up not being any more than a goal-line back.

After taking a few swings and missing, the Lions tried again in 2015. This time drafting Ameer Abdullah in the second round of the draft.

Abdullah looked great in his rookie season and lead many to believe the curse had been lifted. That was short lived, however, when he suffered a Lisfranc injury early on in his second season.

The Lions have since moved onto Kerryon Johnson as their lead back, and he looks like he could be the future at the position, but this all got me thinking:

Which career-shortened Lions running back do you miss the most?

For me the answer is easy. It’s Jahvid Best. His home run ability was simply outstanding. I vividly remember jumping off my couch when the Lions traded back into the first round to pick him in 2010. And for the beginning of his career it looked like he was going to really be a force in the NFL.

It’s really too bad his career was cut short. Who knows how those Lions teams could have faired with a healthy Best on the roster.

What do you think?