The New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have competition in their pursuit of Olympic sprinter Jeff Demps.
Reports on Friday morning have the Detroit Lions interested in acquiring the services of the former University of Florida running back, who put his football career on hold to chase Olympic gold on the track in London. After winning a silver medal as part of the U.S. men's 4 x 100-meter relay team last week, Demps filed paperwork with the NFL to begin a football career.
The Lions' need for Demps - who racked up 3592 all-purpose yards during his four-year career with the Gators - is fairly obvious, as running back Jahvid Best remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list. They join the Jets and the Bucs as teams publicly mentioned in connection with Demps, but there isn't any news yet from the sprinter's camp, according to Dave Birkett, who covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press.
"Nothing cooking there as of other day," Birkett posted to his Twitter account (@davebirkett). "Agent tweeted yesterday decision soon."
Demps was projected as a fifth-round pick or sixth-round pick following his senior season, but his Olympic-class speed and SEC pedigree combine for a package that leaves many NFL teams intrigued. Even if he wouldn't be in the mix right away at running back, he could make immediate contributions on special teams, as Tony Softli of 101ESPN radio in St. Louis noted on his Twitter account (@SoftliSTL).
"Jeff Demps is smaller than Best which is a concern," Softli tweeted, "but return skills are off the charts."
Best is listed at 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds. The 5-foot-7 Demps was listed at 191 pounds for his senior season at Florida, but was listed at 181 pounds for the Olympics. He averaged 28.8 yards on kick returns during his Florida career.
The Lions return to preseason action on Friday night against the Baltimore Ravens. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
