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Lions bring back the fullback by drafting Nick Bawden

The Detroit Lions ended the 2018 NFL draft the way they started it. By trying to beef of their run game.

Indeed, it was beef they added in the seventh round with San Diego State’s Nick Bawden, a 6-foot-2, 245-pound fullback who blocked for Donnel Pumphrey, the country’s top rusher in 2016, and Rashaad Penny — a first-round selection by the Seahawks — in 2017.

Less than a year after the Lions eliminated the fullback position when they cut Michael Burton, they pivoted back after the hiring of coach Matt Patricia.

“Just some conversations we’ve had in the offseason since Matt’s gotten here with some of the new staff members,” Quinn said, “just something we kind of wanted to add to the mix to kind of give our offense a little more of a, I’d say, physical presence.

“It’s a seventh-round pick, so it is what it is. But he’s a guy we liked. We wanted to add a fullback this offseason and I think he was good value at that pick.”

It might not be much of a surprise the Lions went back to the fullback after hiring Patricia, who seems to be following a carbon copy of the Patriots’ fullback blueprint.

In New England, fullback James Develin became a Pro Bowler last year after switching positions from defensive line and climbing through practice squads. Bawden, who was a three-star quarterback recruit and had an offer from Harvard, switched positions after his freshman season and made his way into the NFL as a fullback.

“It was definitely something that I wasn’t opened to at first,” Bawden told Detroit reporters in a conference call. “I had no idea that I had it in me to be able to play fullback because I knew how hard of a position it was. I knew how tough you had to be and everything that goes along with that.

“At first, I really didn’t believe that I could do it, but I wanted to stay in San Diego. I loved our coaches. I loved everything that we were going toward, so I was willing to give it a chance. That definitely gave me an opportunity to be where I am today, talking to you as a Detroit Lion, which I am so excited about. It’s an incredible opportunity.”

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