Is D'Andre Swift Set to Break Out in 2021?

Read more on the possibility of Detroit Lions second-year running back D'Andre Swift being a breakout candidate in 2021

It's time for D'Andre Swift to come into his own in 2021. 

The 2020 second-round draft pick of the Lions (No. 35 overall) certainly has the talent to make it happen, and now more and more NFL pundits are saying that he will do so. 

The latest to predict that the Georgia product will emerge on to the scene this upcoming season is Bleacher Report's Chris Roling. 

Roling, in fact, has Swift pegged as the "NFL's best breakout candidate" at running back for the 2021 season. 

As Roling writes, 

"A 35-year-old Adrian Peterson led the Lions in rushes last year with 156, and the majority of those should go to Swift. Feel free to tack on his 57 targets in the passing game last year in an offense that should be more run-based around Jared Goff—equating to ginormous breakout potential." 

Without Peterson in the way and even with former Green Bay Packers running back Jamaal Williams now in the backfield, Swift should be Detroit's clear-cut No. 1 back at the start of the 2021 campaign. 

Kirthmon F. Dozier, Imagn Content Services, LLC

Swift deserves the starting job, after putting together a solid rookie campaign in the Motor City. 

In 13 games (only four starts), he rushed 114 times for 521 yards and eight touchdowns. He also chipped in as a receiver, hauling in 46 passes for 357 yards and two scores. 

The versatile back's "coming-out-party" came in Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars when he rushed for a career-high 116 yards and two TDs on just 14 carries. 

With the performance, Swift became the first Detroit rookie back to rush for two scores and at least 100 yards in a game since Lions legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders did so in Week 14 of the 1989 season against the Chicago Bears (26 carries for 120 yards and two TDs). 

Going into his second NFL season, Swift has all the potential in the world to take the next step. 

Now, he just has to realize his immense upside -- easier said than done. Yet, just like Roling, I believe that the second-year back will do so in '21.  

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