In attempting to find some sense of a rushing attack since Reggie Bush’s best season back in 2013, the Detroit Lions left no stone unturned this past offseason.
Ultimately, the team settled on signing veteran LeGarrette Blount and selecting Auburn standout Kerryon Johnson in the second round of April’s draft. It’s led to mixed results. While Johnson has shown signs of promise, Detroit heads into Week 11 ranked in the bottom 10 in rushing.
Apparently, Johnson was not Detroit’s first option in the draft. Appearing on the Fox pregame show Thursday night, The Athletic’s Jay Glazer reported that Detroit attempted to trade for Seattle Seahawks rookie running back Rashaad Penny immediately after they selected him No. 27 overall back in April.
The #Lions tried to trade for #Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny immediately after Seattle selected him 27th overall in April’s draft, per @JayGlazer.
That’s…. interesting.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 16, 2018
Given that most around the NFL world viewed the selection as a reach in Round 1, this is somewhat of a surprise. It’s now clear that Seattle realized other teams were intersted in spending a top-round pick on the running back. That’s why they pounced on the San Diego State product.
Interestingly enough, Johnson has outperformed Penny at every turn this season. He’s tallied north of 750 total yards in nine games and is averaging a robust 5.4 yards per attempt.
Meanwhile, Penny lost out on the starting job during the preseason and has put up just 254 rushing yards on the season. Sometimes, the best deals are those not made.