{"id":29587,"date":"2025-08-03T23:31:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T23:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=29587"},"modified":"2025-08-03T23:31:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T23:31:36","slug":"breaking-news-lions-predicted-to-face-difficult-decision-on-promising-young-rb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=29587","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING NEWS : Lions Predicted to Face Difficult Decision on Promising Young RB"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2227204717-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2227204717-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2227204717-1.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2227204717-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Lions Predicted to Face Difficult Decision on Promising Young RB\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Detroit Lions have one of the league\u2019s best running back duos in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, but the team also has talent down to the bottom of the depth chart.<\/p>\n<p>That could create a challenge in the backfield this season, with the team\u2019s No. 5 running back turning in some strong performances while likely falling just below the cut line. Jabari Small, a former undrafted free agent who joined the team in June, could end up finding a new NFL home as the Lions won\u2019t have room to keep him.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Lions Facing Roster Crunch in the Backfield<\/h2>\n<p>The Lions are expected to keep four running backs this season, with Craig Reynolds and Sione Vaki providing depth and versatility behind Montgomery and Gibbs. Jeff Risdon of USA Today\u2019s Lions Wire noted that the roster crunch could lead to the Lions losing Small entirely as he may not make it through to the practice squad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRB Jabari Small continues to show a nice combination of quick feet and hard-charging, downhill running,\u201d Risdon wrote. \u201cHe\u2019s clearly RB5 behind Vaki, but Small sure looks like he can help someone in the regular season if he doesn\u2019t hit the Lions practice squad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Small spent the 2024 season on the practice squad of the Tennessee Titans before waiving him in May. He signed with the Lions on July 18, earning some good reviews for his work in practice.<\/p>\n<p>He had a limited impact in the team\u2019s 34-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in the preseason opener, rushing 11 times for 35 yards and taking one catch for six yards. Small also fumbled, though it was recovered by the Lions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Jabari Small Earned Praise After College<\/h2>\n<p>Small was teammates with Lions backup quarterback Hendon Hooker at Tennessee, where he rushed for 2,122 yards and 24 touchdowns in four collegiate seasons. He earned some buzz coming out of college, though ultimately went undrafted before signing with the Titans as an undrafted free agent.<\/p>\n<p>NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein noted in his pre-draft analysis that Small showed some promise at Tennessee, though struggled at times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA frisky runner with a compact frame, Small can run with good burst and efficiency of movement when he\u2019s locked in. Unfortunately, many of his carries in 2023 featured few clear points of entry, which caused him to run with less decisiveness,\u201d Zierlein wrote. \u201cA lack of patience and tempo limits his opportunity to read the front and find developing run lanes instead of crashing forward into the abyss. Small can find his own yardage on bounce-outs and with improvisational path changes, but that might not be sustainable as a pro.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zierlein concluded that Small\u2019s limited impact in the passing game and lack of special teams experience could hurt in the NFL, which could also become the case with the Lions this summer. The team will be looking for some special teams contributions from the bottom of the depth chart, which helped Vaki earn a role on the team last season. If Small has a chance to make the final roster, special teams could become a deciding factor.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Detroit Lions could face a difficult decision on running back Jabari Small after he turned in some strong performances in training camp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING NEWS : Lions Predicted to Face Difficult Decision on Promising Young RB - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=29587\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING NEWS : Lions Predicted to Face Difficult Decision on Promising Young RB - 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