OC Joe Lombardi on Ameer Abdullah: He's going to get a chance to run the ball, and he's going to get a chance to be used extensively in the passing game.

This is not a big surprise, but it's great to hear the OC confirm our suspicions that Abdullah is likely to take over the Reggie Bush role in the offense.

Ameer Abdullah is a better receiver than the Lions thought he'd be, certainly a better receiver already than Reggie Bush was. The Lions will use him a lot in that role and that could dip into Theo Riddick's numbers some.

We project Abdullah for 51 catches. Bush averaged 3.76 catches in 25 games with the Lions, which works out to 60.1 over a full 16-game season. Both Riddick and Joique Bell are adept in the passing game, so look for the Lions to use their running backs early and often in 2015.

Zach Zenner is the hot new thing in the Detroit Lions backfield. Ameer Abdullah just might have the most raw talent.

But here's your friendly reminder that Joique Bell remains the Lions' No. 1 tailback — for now, at least.

Bell was activated off the physically unable to perform list Monday, and immediately returned to repping with the first-unit offense ahead of Abdullah, Zenner, Theo Riddick and George Winn. He was listed first on the depth chart, too, though he is not expected to play in Thursday's preseason finale against Buffalo

"I did everything with the ones," Bell said. "I was limited, as far as reps, but I did everything. Everything from team blitz to regular team."

The Lions struggled to rush the football last year, but Bell was able to produce anyway after a slow start, averaging 4.2 yards per carry in the second half of the year. He was on pace for a 1,000-yard season during that stretch. He rushed 223 times for a career-best 860 yards and a team-best seven touchdowns, and eclipsed Reggie Bush as the team's primary tailback. A year later, Bell remains entrenched in that role to open this season despite some promising early returns from Abdullah and Zenner.

Loins beat writer Justin Rogers was asked if RB Joique Bell is still the starter.

Rogers: Yes. Not only that, as long as he's healthy, I expect Bell to get the majority of carries each week.

Ameer Abdullah's start was electric, but that doesn't mean he leaps straight to the top of the depth chart.

The story continued to say in an ideal world for the Lions, the starter tag won't matter. Bell, Abdullah and even Theo Riddick will form a balanced attack that keeps opponents guessing and the chains moving. That's not the ideal fantasy situation but we can at least conclude Bell gets his share of early down and short yardage carries while Abdullah sees a lot of work in the passing downs and as an electric change of pace. Abdullah's value comes in PPR leagues. The addition of Abdullah puts Riddick's role in question as well as his fantasy value. If there's an injury, Riddick will be a popular waiver pickup.

Hardly anyone is talking about Lions RB Theo Riddick these days.

The Detroit Lions running back generated a lot buzz in training camp last year, but Riddick has been overshadowed this offseason by the hype surrounding rookie Ameer Abdullah.

Abdullah's popularity is skyrocketing following a stellar preseason debut, but Riddick, who actually started the game in place of the injured Joique Bell, also had a strong showing in the 23-3 win against the New York Jets.

He finished the contest with eight carries for 35 yards. That's nearly as many rushing yards as he had all of last season.

Where Riddick has previously thrived for the Lions is as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. But on the ground, Riddick hasn't shown much in his two seasons. He's averaged just 2.9 yards on his 29 carries. The longest run of his brief career was for nine yards. Against the Jets, Riddick showed improved vision, balance and elusiveness, picking up gains of seven, eight and nine yards in the first half. The story added if Riddick continues to improve there should be more carries for him even with Bell and Abdullah around. That's probably not great news for fantasy owners if this turns into a three-headed monster at running back. For now, we still see the value in Bell as an early-down rusher and Abdullah a change of pace with a lot of work in the passing game.

It’s only preseason, but Coach Todd Bowles of the Jets raised the name of the running back that a lot of Lions fans have to be thinking about, while crossing their fingers: “He’s about as quick as Barry Sanders,” Bowles told The Associated Press, referring to Ameer Abdullah. “I’m not saying he is Barry Sanders, but he’s got that kind of quickness.”

The buzz had been strong with Abdullah and his ADP is climbing. After a strong first preseason outing, don’t be surprised if he starts to go in the 3rd round. We believe he’s worth a 4th round pick in PPR, though Joique Bell isn’t doing himself any favors by being slow to recover from knee and Achilles injuries. Most scouts seem to agree that Abdullah doesn’t project to be an every-down back, so Bell’s between-the-tackles role should be safe, at least for for a while. If things break his way and he sees significant time on passing downs, Abdullah should ultimately post top 20 numbers in PPR formats.

The Lions took running back Ameer Abdullah in the second round of this year’s draft in hopes that he could provide them with more offensive punch than they got from recent high picks Mikel Leshoure and Jahvid Best.

Count defensive coordinator Teryl Austin among those who think that Abdullah has what it takes to fulfill those hopes. Austin said Saturday that his unit has found it difficult to stop Abdullah during training camp practices.

“We can’t even tackle that guy,” Austin said, via the Detroit Free Press. “We can’t even touch him. He’s like grasping at air.”

Running backs coach Curtis Modkins took a more reserved stance on his charge, saying that while Abdullah shows “unique ability” there is a difference between impressing in practices and impressing against opposing defenses on Sundays. That’s certainly true and Abdullah says he has “so much I have to improve” before he’ll thrive in the NFL, but the team wouldn’t have used a second-round pick on him if they weren’t confident he could do so.

With Joique Bell still working his way back to practice after knee and Achilles surgeries, Abdullah should get plenty of opportunities in the preseason to show whether his ability to make people miss translates beyond friendly competition with the Lions defense. His first crack comes against the Jets this week, the story went on to say. Abdullah is ranked 30th on our list and is getting drafted around the fifth round. Abdullah probably isn't an every down back but can be productive from a fantasy standpoint in the Lions offense if he takes over Reggie Bush's old role.

Lions RB Joique Bell will start camp on the PUP list.

Bell had clean-up surgeries this off-season on his knee and Achilles tendon, and like Waddle missed all of spring workouts.

Bell is expected to start at running back, but split time with rookie second-round pick Ameer Abdullah when he returns.

This is not a huge deal, but it's noteworthy that Bell is not yet fully recovered from his offseason ailments. Bell was the #14 RB in standard formats (#13 in PPR), while racking up 257 touches in 15 games. That works out to a 17.1-touch average. While he certainly benefited from Reggie Bush's injury-plagued season, Bell dominated the touches even when Bush was active and playing. When healthy, he should continue to see RB1-type touches in 2015 with Bush out of the way, though the arrival of Abdullah is a concern.