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The Detroit Lions will visit with their third straight running back age 30 or older when Frank Gore arrives Wednesday, according to ESPN Insider Josina Anderson. At a position where the NFL trend is to go younger and prevailing data suggests backs fall off quickly after turning 30, Detroit seems to be bucking conventional wisdom. First it was Jonathan Stewart, who turns 31 this month. He eventually signed with the Giants. Then DeMarco Murray, 30, visited and now Gore, who turns 35 in May. The question is -- why?  Though general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia aren't available to answer that question, the reasoning might lie in their time with New England. Glancing at Patriots rosters throughout Bill Belichick's tenure and during Quinn and Patricia's time in Foxboro, a constant is having at least one running back who finished a season at age 30 in the room.
Since 2002, Quinn's first year as a pro scout in New England, the Patriots have had someone like that almost every year -- with 2012, 2014 and 2017 being the exceptions. It wasn't always the intent -- Steven Jackson in 2015 would be a late-season example -- but more often than not, it appears the roster was designed that way. Now, some might have turned 30 in their final year on the roster, like LeGarrette Blount in 2016, but that presence was there. In the case of Gore he might be an outlier. He hasn't missed a game since 2010 and has been a 1,000-yard rusher in five of the past seven seasons. Meanwhile, the Lions haven't had a player rush for 100 yards in a game since the 2013 season. In New England, the running back roles have varied. Corey Dillon was one of the team's leading rushers during his three over-30 years in New England (2004-06), but others were role players for short stints, like Leon Washington in 2013. But the veterans were there. And with the Lions' decision-makers being brought up in the New England system, this could be another clue as to why guys like Murray, Gore and Stewart have gained the attention of the Lions while younger backs like Dion Lewis, Carlos Hyde and Isaiah Crowell headed elsewhere in free agency without what seemed to be too much attention from the Lions. Other than Dillon, most of those 30-plus backs in New England were used in a specific role, including Kevin Faulk, Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris. Others didn't last long at all, including Washington (who was primarily a kick returner) and Jackson, who didn't join the Patriots until late in the 2015 season. The reasoning for the older back, particularly in the case of the Lions, could be for mentorship and culture-setting -- particularly in Gore's case. Other than Theo Riddick, all of Detroit's running backs are still on rookie contracts. There's also a lack of true experience in the room as Ameer Abdullah, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal, has the most career carries at 326. That's just five more carries than Le'Veon Bell had last season alone. Bringing in an older back, as both a potential mentor and complementary piece in the running game, also would signal the Lions are going to draft a back this year, perhaps in the first three rounds. That veteran back, realistically, will also come at a lower price point. That veteran back, depending how the rest of the room shakes out, could end up being the lead back or the head of a back-by-committee approach. Quinn said he thinks there are only "four or five lead, or elite, running backs in the league right now." The Lions, as of now, don't have one, so they appear to be trying to piece things together to make a running back group that was better than last season. Quinn has already said he plans on adding at least one running back to the room -- a group that was worst in the NFL in yards per game and yards per carry. Based on what the Lions have investigated so far in free agency -- and on the past with the Patriots -- it would seem like that could be a combination of the old and the new if they can find the right fit. All ages in this story come from Pro-Football-Reference.
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