There will likely be an ongoing debate for much of the Detroit Lions' season of which running back to play, Reggie Bush or Joique Bell. Fantasy football owners are tasked with determining which back will be used more after Bell emerged as a true candidate to make some noise this upcoming year. The Lions are benefiting from having two starting running backs on the roster, but which will be the better fantasy star entering the 2014 season?
Last season, Bell and Bush combined for 1549 targets. Bush had more rushing attempts. Bell had more touchdowns. For the upcoming season, the Lions are looking to better distribute the carries between backs in order to keep everyone healthy, but early predictions have Bell getting more action over Bush in the offense.
According to ESPN's Ben Goessling, Bell looks to be winning the starting job for Detroit as he continues to take snaps away from Bush in the preseason. Now, in the Lions new offense that likely will not mean much. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi intends to evenly distribute things much like he did with the New Orleans Saints with Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles. Bell will likely get the carries to be a pure rusher, making him perfect for goal-line situations. Bush will be utilized in a receiving role, catching passes out of the backfield from quarterback Matthew Stafford. Both backs are likely nothing more than an RB2 type of player given their equal amount of playing time to be given.
That will be the trend with the Detroit Lions' offense for every player not named Calvin Johnson. It is a given that Johnson is fantasy gold and should be starter accordingly, but no one else on the roster will get that amount of attention. Ryan Broyles is coming along well for the Lions, but he has Golden Tate to compete with for attention. Eric Ebron is an immediate-impact rookie, but Stafford already has developed chemistry with Brandon Pettigrew. Ebron will be used much like Jimmy Graham or Jordan Cameron while Pettigrew is an off-the-line tight end like Rob Gronkowski.
Proceed with caution when investing fantasy stock in any Detroit player not named Johnson. Lombardi plans to spread the ball around as much as possible in the upcoming season meaning everyone's carries and targets will be going down.