4 Areas D'Andre Swift Can Improve In Headed into 2022 Season

Read more on the four areas Detroit Lions running back D'Andre Swift can improve in headed into the 2022 NFL season.

Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells is Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell’s mentor. In Parcells’ words, “You’re either getting better, or you’re getting worse. But, nobody stays the same."

Nobody is exempt to that rule, either, including Detroit running back D’Andre Swift, who is going into his third NFL season.

Swift took to the podium at Thursday’s pre-draft press conference, and offered his own evaluation of his 2021 season. He revealed what he believes he needs to do to improve moving forward.

“There’s a lot of stuff,” Swift said. “I’m real critical of myself. I was watching tape the other day, like the first six games. (I) feel like I missed a lot of runs, (need to) always be patient, fall forward, run behind my pads a little bit better, route running (needs) to be more crisp. (There are) a lot of little details and stuff I can work on to take my game to the next level.”

When Swift was asked a follow-up question regarding what the next level looks like, he assertively replied, “Playing in every game. I feel like when I’m healthy, sky’s the limit. I know Duce [Staley] is going to take me to that level. (I) trust him, and I know he trusts my ability. Just the little details, making my routes crisper, falling forward. There’s a lot of hidden yardage out there, when I look at the tape from last year.”

There certainly was.

When going back and looking at three of the Lions' first eight games from last season (against San Francisco on 9/12, Baltimore on 9/26 and Philadelphia on 10/31), even more light was shed on the four areas Swift needs to improve in going forward.

Junfu Han, USA TODAY NETWORK

1.) Do not hesitate as a runner

Swift hesitated too often both on inside and outside runs. He has a tendency to try to get too fancy, trying to juke defenders. The “shake and bake" does not fool anybody. All it does is slow him up to get tackled. 

Swift needs to commit to his directions more decisively. He needs to commit and go. There were times he did this last year, and he looked a lot better when he did. And, he picked up additional yardage along the way, too.

2.) Run to daylight, not at tacklers

As funny as this may sound, there were countless times on game film when Swift showed this compulsion to run at defenders, rather than try to run away from them (it was really bad vs. SF). It almost looked like Swift was trying to get tackled.

Joe Nicholson, USA TODAY Sports

3.) Run full speed and create more separation during route running

While Swift fully acknowledged he needs to run more crisp routes, he failed to mention he needs to run them at full speed. Yes, they also need to be more crisp. 

However, Swift ran half-speed on nearly every single route he went out on in 2021. This caused two problems. 

First, he did a poor job clearing out his area for the intended receiver, and made that receiver easier to tackle after the catch. Second, because Swift’s routes were run so half-heartedly, he often did a poor job creating enough separation, which really limited his opportunities to pick up yardage after the catch. Swift was often tackled immediately after receptions.

4.) Be aware when quarterback is in trouble

Because Swift looked borderline lackadaisical running routes, he seemed oblivious when quarterback Jared Goff was in trouble. Goff was running for his life or under heavy pressure in the pocket, and Swift was basically just standing around after running his route. 

Swift needs to display more urgency when his QB is in trouble. He needs to hightail himself into position and make himself an emergency target that can be seen. He can not just stand around and watch, as a spectator would.