Dwayne Washington picked by the Lions in the seventh round

With the 236th pick of the NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions take running back Dwayne Washington! Welcome to Detroit Dwayne! Washington missed the last four games of the year due to an injury, but he should be fine by the 2016 season. His career at Washington ended with 1,311 yards, 17 touchdowns, along with 41 catches for 411 yards and four touchdowns. This is the final pick for Detroit and they added depth at a position that doesn’t need much more depth with five players already at the position. Check out his profile here.

Why did the Lions draft Dwayne Washington?

Depth you could say. Theo Riddick, Ameer Abdullah, Steven Ridley, Zach Zenner and George Winn aren’t enough running backs for Detroit. Riddick handles the passing plays, Abdullah is a balanced back while Ridley and Zenner handle the power back plays. George Winn is a practice squad body. Washington could challenge Winn for that practice squad spot, but I don’t see him lasting on the team. Washington though he does have a good combo of size and speed, being 6 foot 2 and running a 4.44 40 yard dash at his pro day. Once Washington finds open space, he finds a second gear and is hard to catch. He is a former wide receiver so he can catch well, along with being an equal strength player compared to linebackers. One thing to watch though, 10 fumbles in 227 carries at Washington, he could be another running back with that issue.

Thanks for reading and for being with us here at detroitlionspodcast.com for the entire draft and for the draft party on Thursday. We wouldn’t be here without you guys and your involvement with the show, on the subreddit and with the articles. We will be breaking down the draft and giving out grades during our writers roundtable tomorrow.