Dead to Me: Kerryon Johnson

I’ve loved the “Dead to Me” series of articles. It’s provided an excellent way to create redraft content throughout the offseason and take a closer look at the week-to-week effectiveness of one or two players at a time. By going in-depth and zooming in, we can discover how these players have been hurting your fantasy redraft teams for multiple years. After the 2020 NFL Draft, there are a bunch of new players that are now dead to me in redraft. I already looked at Marlon Mack as a primary victim of the NFL Draft. Now, it’s time for another player who’s now dead in my eyes because of the NFL Draft, Kerryon Johnson.

Author’s Note: I’ll refer to Kerryon Johnson as Kerryon throughout this article to avoid confusion with Ty Johnson.

Career Snapshot

Rushing

Receiving

2018 – The Beginning

Kerryon had a mixed career at Auburn, playing as a backup in 2015 and then in a committee behind Kamryn Pettway in 2016. Finally, in 2017, Kerryon broke out, dominating the backfield touches with 285 carries for 1,391 yards and 18 touchdowns. However, even then, he was inefficient, averaging only 4.9 YPC. He did provide receiving upside, totaling 55 receptions for 478 yards and two touchdowns throughout his college career.

Therefore, many observers were surprised when the Lions selected Kerryon with the 43rd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Kerryon joined a backfield with veteran free-agent signing LeGarrette Blount and longtime scatback Theo Riddick. Since Kerryon had experience on both early-downs and in the passing game, the Lions expected him to compete with both players for playing time.

In Weeks 1-5, Kerryon and Blount split early-down work almost equally. Johnson had 50 carries to Blount’s 47. However, Kerryon performed far better on his 50 carries, gaining 286 yards for an excellent 5.7 YPC while Blount gained only 117 yards on his 47 carries for a horrible 2.5 YPC. Kerryon was the RB27 during that period, while Blount was way down at RB53. Also, while Riddick was still the main pass-catching back, Kerryon even chipped in 13 receptions on 15 targets for 68 yards.

After the Lions’ Week 6 bye, they decided to make a change in their running back philosophy. Riddick was hurt, and Blount had been ineffective, so they turned to Kerryon as their workhorse back. In Weeks 7-11, Kerryon averaged 13.8 carries and 4.8 targets per game. He had 355 rushing yards, maintaining a 5.2 YPC, and also scored four rushing touchdowns. During that period, Kerryon was 16th in fantasy points per game. The Lions also relegated Blount to a bit-part role, giving him just 6.2 carries per game.

Unfortunately for Kerryon, he suffered a sprained knee in the Lions’ Week 11 contest. While he initially was considered week-to-week, the injury forced him to miss the remainder of the season. Considering that Kerryon had just come into his own as the Lions’ workhorse, it was extremely disappointing to have him miss the rest of 2018. If he had remained healthy, he could have cemented himself as one of the NFL’s best young workhorses, but we never got to see that for an extended stretch in 2018.

2019 – The Disappointment

Even though Kerryon’s 2018 season ended in disappointment, there were plenty of reasons for optimism going into 2019. The Lions retained head coach Matt Patricia, who had drafted Johnson in 2018. Additionally, they replaced pass-first offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter with run-heavy Darrell Bevell. Patricia and Bevell emphasized their commitment to Johnson throughout the offseason, both on the ground and through the air.

Also, the Lions made personnel moves that demonstrated their positive feelings about Kerryon. They let Blount walk in free agency and replaced him with a similar running back in C.J. Anderson. Then, they only drafted Ty Johnson at running back in 2019, using a sixth-round pick on him. Ty Johnson profiled as a scatback, and eventually, the Lions decided to release Riddick, keeping only Anderson and Ty Johnson as backups to Kerryon for their final 53-man roster. Considering that the only competition to Kerryon was an unknown rookie and a washed-up veteran, the Lions fully expected to use Kerryon as a workhorse in 2019.

In the Lions’ first five games, Kerryon was every bit the workhorse the Lions intended him to be. He averaged 17.4 carries per game, with no other back getting any significant work on the ground. However, Kerryon wasn’t effective on those carries with only 3.3 YPC. He also only scored two rushing touchdowns. His passing game production also declined, with only nine total receptions in those five games.

Once again, injury disaster struck Kerryon in Week 7. He suffered a right knee injury that required surgery. The Lions placed him on injured reserve, keeping him out until Week 16. While he did return for the final two weeks of the season, the frustration of 2019 had shattered the Lions’ confidence in Kerryon as a workhorse back. Kerryon completed the last two games in a committee with Ty Johnson and newcomer Bo Scarbrough. The Lions had tried multiple different running backs in Kerryon’s absence, including Ty Johnson and Scarbrough, as well as J.D. McKissic, Paul Perkins, Tra Carson, and Wes Hills. 

2020 – Supplanted

After their experience using so many running backs in 2019, the Lions decided that they needed to overhaul their running back room going into 2020. They retained Ty Johnson, Scarbrough, and Hills, but that’s not the big story. In the 2020 NFL Draft, the Lions decided to take not one, but two running backs. They started by selecting Georgia standout D’Andre Swift in the second round with the 35th overall pick and followed that up by taking Jason Huntley in the fifth round. While Huntley isn’t particularly well-known or exciting, I’ve already written about Swift, both pre-draft and post-draft.

In my pre-draft write-up, I noted that Swift was one of my favorite running backs in this class, second behind Jonathan Taylor. I expected him to come in as an immediate starter because he gained playing time at Georgia even when competing with NFL talents like Sony Michel and Nick Chubb. Swift excels on both early and passing downs and is a well-rounded back. Therefore, despite the similar draft capital spent on Swift and Kerryon, I expect Swift to be the starter.

It’s a bit crazy that Kerryon is dead to me since he doesn’t even turn 23 years old until June 30. However, in redraft formats, I can’t imagine ever trusting him again. He’s played only 18 games out of a possible 32 and now will compete for touches with one of my favorite running back prospects in recent years in Swift. Additionally, the Lions felt it was necessary to bring in Huntley, a pass-catching specialist. While Huntley will likely only supplant Ty Johnson in a third-down role, it demonstrates a total lack of confidence in Kerryon to compete there either.

Kerryon comes in as my RB38 in my 2020 redraft rankings. I don’t see the Lions as a high-powered offense, although quarterback Matthew Stafford will hopefully return to full health for 2020. Even if he does, I don’t see the Lions as the kind of team that can support two good fantasy running backs, especially with the presence of scat backs Huntley and Ty Johnson. I’m not necessarily recommending drafting Swift since I believe the Lions will form a committee with Swift as the leader. Swift is only my RB25, so he’s also outside of RB2 territory. However, as the season progresses, I expect Swift to take more and more of the backfield, further relegating Kerryon to irrelevance.

Thanks for reading this article. You can find me on Twitter at @DFF_Karp. I love to interact with anyone in the community, so reach out at any time! I take fantasy questions and help with all formats, so keep sending those questions my way.

Previous Dead to Me Articles: Dead to Me: Redraft, Dead to Me: Aaron Rodgers, Dead to Me: Sony Michel, Dead to Me: Tevin Coleman, Dead to Me: Marlon Mack