Kevin Smith (1 Viewer)

[Tau837]

He is the starter on a team with virtually no competition. I took him at pick 63 because he will get the touches. Sometimes that's good enough in FF. Touuches , touces, touches.

Ya, sometimes it is..but then again sometimes it isn't. So is touches, touches, touches really the answer if sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't?I took Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round and there wasn't much competition.

The offensive line will need to block or this guy won't survive and he needs a bit of talent.

I think the kid has some talent. I think he shows some patience in his runs, he can bounce it out pretty quick when there's not a lot there but he also isn't a guy that breaks a lot of tackles and moves the pile forward on his own.

If you take Kevin Smith, it's not going to wreck your draft. I understand what people are saying, and there's no doubt that he's going to get every chance to succeed.

What I'm saying is that I've attended a preseason game, and watched the other games on television focusing a large part on the offensive line. You could argue it's preseason and they're not playing as hard, but then I'd have to focus on last year's rushing attack, which was VERY bad.

Up front I am not seeing the holes consistently. In fact, Kitna has played very well but I've seen him scramble for his life on more than one occasion. He's actually very good at doing that but you can't help but think one time he's going to get killed out there.

I trust what I've seen personally and that's that the Detroit Lions are struggling to run block. Kevin Smith has very little to compete against because there is very little talent going up against him, not because he's the 2nd coming of Barry Sanders.

I'm gonna have to call you on that one. Many (most?) folks correctly saw Kevin Jones as the DET RB to own last year.The only scenario in which Bell had little competition was the one in which Jones wasn't able to play.

Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round was a lousy risk/reward proposition. With no Kevin Jones looming, Kevin Smith in essentially the same draft spot is all upside.

Kevin Jones had some serious injury issues heading into last season if you recall, was supposed to go on the PUP. All of July and August, reports weren't positive on Jones. It wasn't until closer to the season came close that Jones looked like he was going only miss a couple weeks to the start of the season. Regardless of whether you liked Bell or didn't, he was being drafted.I'm not down on Kevin Smith so much, just the Lions offensive line. The good news is they may improve during the season if they don't get dinged up.

It is still a bad comparison. We have the benefit of knowing Bell got only 58 touches. So unless you think Smith will get a similarly low number of touches, the Bell comparison is invalid.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

He is the starter on a team with virtually no competition. I took him at pick 63 because he will get the touches. Sometimes that's good enough in FF. Touuches , touces, touches.

Ya, sometimes it is..but then again sometimes it isn't. So is touches, touches, touches really the answer if sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't?I took Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round and there wasn't much competition.

Well, Bell got 58 touches last year. Do you really think that is a good comparison?Since you are playing the devil's advocate role here, why don't you tell us how many touches you think he will get?According to DataDominator, from 2002 to 2007, the average NFL team had 392 rushing attempts by its RBs. Not surprisingly, Detroit has the two lowest totals over that span in 2006 and 2007 under Martz - 267 RB rushing attempts in 2006, and 278 RB rushing attempts in 2007.I would guess that this year Detroit will still be below average, but a lot closer. Perhaps 350 RB rushing attempts. So who will get them? IMO it could easily break down like this:Smith 275Bell 50Others 25Last year, Detroit targeted its RBs 94 times. In 2006, it was 135 targets for the RBs... splitting the difference would be around 114 targets. I assume these could drop with more rushing attempts, but on the other hand, the average NFL team had 109 RB targets and 79 RB receptions from 2002 to 2007. Again, I'd assume a below average total for Detroit, perhaps 95 targets. If we assume a similar conversion rate, that would be 69 receptions. Conservatively, as the feature RB, I'd guess that Smith would get half, or about 35 receptions.So... if he gets 310 touches, how poor can his performance be? 275 touches at 4 ypc is 1100 yards. Are you assuming he'll be below 4 ypc? Or that he'll be below 275 carries? (I'm assuming he'll stay healthy; are you?) If he gets 35 catches, isn't that at least another 250 yards or so? Or do you assume fewer catches or a ypr of less than 7 ypc? If he gets 310 touches, how many TDs do you expect? I'd say it's reasonable to project 6... do you disagree?So if healthy, I'm looking at 310 touches, 1350 yards, and 6 TDs... 171 fantasy points. Last year, that would have been good for RB14. Suppose he gets only 240 carries, 25 catches, and 4 TDs... at 4 ypc and 7 ypr, that's still 137 fantasy points, which last year was good for RB24... and IMO that is very conservative if he stays healthy.I'm having a hard time not seeing the upside here given his ADP.

275 rushes? Kevin Jones never went above 250 in his entire career in Detroit and you think as a rookie this guys gets 275?Kevin Jones only once achieved 4 yards a carry in Detroit, 4 years ago. So, yes I am assuming he will be below 4 ypc and I think it's the correct one. The catches are probably about right. 6 TD's is reasonableI guess if I was making an over/under for Kevin Jones, I would make it 1000 yards rushing. I'd consider that a pretty successful season as the starter behind that line

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

He is the starter on a team with virtually no competition. I took him at pick 63 because he will get the touches. Sometimes that's good enough in FF. Touuches , touces, touches.

Ya, sometimes it is..but then again sometimes it isn't. So is touches, touches, touches really the answer if sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't?I took Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round and there wasn't much competition.

The offensive line will need to block or this guy won't survive and he needs a bit of talent.

I think the kid has some talent. I think he shows some patience in his runs, he can bounce it out pretty quick when there's not a lot there but he also isn't a guy that breaks a lot of tackles and moves the pile forward on his own.

If you take Kevin Smith, it's not going to wreck your draft. I understand what people are saying, and there's no doubt that he's going to get every chance to succeed.

What I'm saying is that I've attended a preseason game, and watched the other games on television focusing a large part on the offensive line. You could argue it's preseason and they're not playing as hard, but then I'd have to focus on last year's rushing attack, which was VERY bad.

Up front I am not seeing the holes consistently. In fact, Kitna has played very well but I've seen him scramble for his life on more than one occasion. He's actually very good at doing that but you can't help but think one time he's going to get killed out there.

I trust what I've seen personally and that's that the Detroit Lions are struggling to run block. Kevin Smith has very little to compete against because there is very little talent going up against him, not because he's the 2nd coming of Barry Sanders.

I'm gonna have to call you on that one. Many (most?) folks correctly saw Kevin Jones as the DET RB to own last year.The only scenario in which Bell had little competition was the one in which Jones wasn't able to play.

Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round was a lousy risk/reward proposition. With no Kevin Jones looming, Kevin Smith in essentially the same draft spot is all upside.

Kevin Jones had some serious injury issues heading into last season if you recall, was supposed to go on the PUP. All of July and August, reports weren't positive on Jones. It wasn't until closer to the season came close that Jones looked like he was going only miss a couple weeks to the start of the season. Regardless of whether you liked Bell or didn't, he was being drafted.I'm not down on Kevin Smith so much, just the Lions offensive line. The good news is they may improve during the season if they don't get dinged up.

It is still a bad comparison. We have the benefit of knowing Bell got only 58 touches. So unless you think Smith will get a similarly low number of touches, the Bell comparison is invalid.

Yes it is a valid comparison. If you look at one of the original quotes.......the topic that I got started on was about Kevin Smith and he has no competition. From there, I went on about how I drafted Tatum Bell under those same thoughts. Kevin Jones late July/early August were thoughts of him possibly missing the season, being out 1/2 year etc.....with him not on the team or dinged up pretty bad left very little competition at the RB position. It wasn't until the season grew very close that we found out that Kevin Jones was going to not going on PUP etc....As far as Tatum Bell, he blows and I knew it and I still selected him because I knew he'd have the chance to be the starter with Kevin Jones out. Obviously it was a bad decision because he just isn't good enough.

NOW we know that Bell had whatever rushes he ended up with, but we didn't know last July.

I expect Smith to get around 200-220 touches and about a 3.5 ypc

 

[davearm]

He is the starter on a team with virtually no competition. I took him at pick 63 because he will get the touches. Sometimes that's good enough in FF. Touuches , touces, touches.

Ya, sometimes it is..but then again sometimes it isn't. So is touches, touches, touches really the answer if sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't?I took Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round and there wasn't much competition.

The offensive line will need to block or this guy won't survive and he needs a bit of talent.

I think the kid has some talent. I think he shows some patience in his runs, he can bounce it out pretty quick when there's not a lot there but he also isn't a guy that breaks a lot of tackles and moves the pile forward on his own.

If you take Kevin Smith, it's not going to wreck your draft. I understand what people are saying, and there's no doubt that he's going to get every chance to succeed.

What I'm saying is that I've attended a preseason game, and watched the other games on television focusing a large part on the offensive line. You could argue it's preseason and they're not playing as hard, but then I'd have to focus on last year's rushing attack, which was VERY bad.

Up front I am not seeing the holes consistently. In fact, Kitna has played very well but I've seen him scramble for his life on more than one occasion. He's actually very good at doing that but you can't help but think one time he's going to get killed out there.

I trust what I've seen personally and that's that the Detroit Lions are struggling to run block. Kevin Smith has very little to compete against because there is very little talent going up against him, not because he's the 2nd coming of Barry Sanders.

I'm gonna have to call you on that one. Many (most?) folks correctly saw Kevin Jones as the DET RB to own last year.The only scenario in which Bell had little competition was the one in which Jones wasn't able to play.

Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round was a lousy risk/reward proposition. With no Kevin Jones looming, Kevin Smith in essentially the same draft spot is all upside.

Kevin Jones had some serious injury issues heading into last season if you recall, was supposed to go on the PUP. All of July and August, reports weren't positive on Jones. It wasn't until closer to the season came close that Jones looked like he was going only miss a couple weeks to the start of the season. Regardless of whether you liked Bell or didn't, he was being drafted.I'm not down on Kevin Smith so much, just the Lions offensive line. The good news is they may improve during the season if they don't get dinged up.

You're really not going to get anywhere defending that Tatum Bell pick.Some folks saw him as a total deadend. And others took him in the 6th/7th.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

He is the starter on a team with virtually no competition. I took him at pick 63 because he will get the touches. Sometimes that's good enough in FF. Touuches , touces, touches.

Ya, sometimes it is..but then again sometimes it isn't. So is touches, touches, touches really the answer if sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't?I took Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round and there wasn't much competition.

The offensive line will need to block or this guy won't survive and he needs a bit of talent.

I think the kid has some talent. I think he shows some patience in his runs, he can bounce it out pretty quick when there's not a lot there but he also isn't a guy that breaks a lot of tackles and moves the pile forward on his own.

If you take Kevin Smith, it's not going to wreck your draft. I understand what people are saying, and there's no doubt that he's going to get every chance to succeed.

What I'm saying is that I've attended a preseason game, and watched the other games on television focusing a large part on the offensive line. You could argue it's preseason and they're not playing as hard, but then I'd have to focus on last year's rushing attack, which was VERY bad.

Up front I am not seeing the holes consistently. In fact, Kitna has played very well but I've seen him scramble for his life on more than one occasion. He's actually very good at doing that but you can't help but think one time he's going to get killed out there.

I trust what I've seen personally and that's that the Detroit Lions are struggling to run block. Kevin Smith has very little to compete against because there is very little talent going up against him, not because he's the 2nd coming of Barry Sanders.

I'm gonna have to call you on that one. Many (most?) folks correctly saw Kevin Jones as the DET RB to own last year.The only scenario in which Bell had little competition was the one in which Jones wasn't able to play.

Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round was a lousy risk/reward proposition. With no Kevin Jones looming, Kevin Smith in essentially the same draft spot is all upside.

Kevin Jones had some serious injury issues heading into last season if you recall, was supposed to go on the PUP. All of July and August, reports weren't positive on Jones. It wasn't until closer to the season came close that Jones looked like he was going only miss a couple weeks to the start of the season. Regardless of whether you liked Bell or didn't, he was being drafted.I'm not down on Kevin Smith so much, just the Lions offensive line. The good news is they may improve during the season if they don't get dinged up.

You're really not going to get anywhere defending that Tatum Bell pick.Some folks saw him as a total deadend. And others took him in the 6th/7th.

LOL OK, I'm not defending the pick. It was the worst pick I made in any draft I was in for many reasons. The point I am trying to make is that at the time I drafted Tatum Bell....it APPEARED as if there wasn't going to be anyone else for the job or at least I was gambling on it. It didn't turn out that way, we know that.The other point is that you need more than just to be the guy getting touches, touches, touches....proof is Tatum Bell, which is something I think you said earlier.

I'm not saying Kevin Smith is Tatum Bell, what I'm saying is you do need some talent as well as the touches. Kevin Smith is going to need all the talent he can muster up running behind this line.

 

[Tau837]

He is the starter on a team with virtually no competition. I took him at pick 63 because he will get the touches. Sometimes that's good enough in FF. Touuches , touces, touches.

Ya, sometimes it is..but then again sometimes it isn't. So is touches, touches, touches really the answer if sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't?I took Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round and there wasn't much competition.

Well, Bell got 58 touches last year. Do you really think that is a good comparison?Since you are playing the devil's advocate role here, why don't you tell us how many touches you think he will get?According to DataDominator, from 2002 to 2007, the average NFL team had 392 rushing attempts by its RBs. Not surprisingly, Detroit has the two lowest totals over that span in 2006 and 2007 under Martz - 267 RB rushing attempts in 2006, and 278 RB rushing attempts in 2007.I would guess that this year Detroit will still be below average, but a lot closer. Perhaps 350 RB rushing attempts. So who will get them? IMO it could easily break down like this:Smith 275Bell 50Others 25Last year, Detroit targeted its RBs 94 times. In 2006, it was 135 targets for the RBs... splitting the difference would be around 114 targets. I assume these could drop with more rushing attempts, but on the other hand, the average NFL team had 109 RB targets and 79 RB receptions from 2002 to 2007. Again, I'd assume a below average total for Detroit, perhaps 95 targets. If we assume a similar conversion rate, that would be 69 receptions. Conservatively, as the feature RB, I'd guess that Smith would get half, or about 35 receptions.So... if he gets 310 touches, how poor can his performance be? 275 touches at 4 ypc is 1100 yards. Are you assuming he'll be below 4 ypc? Or that he'll be below 275 carries? (I'm assuming he'll stay healthy; are you?) If he gets 35 catches, isn't that at least another 250 yards or so? Or do you assume fewer catches or a ypr of less than 7 ypc? If he gets 310 touches, how many TDs do you expect? I'd say it's reasonable to project 6... do you disagree?So if healthy, I'm looking at 310 touches, 1350 yards, and 6 TDs... 171 fantasy points. Last year, that would have been good for RB14. Suppose he gets only 240 carries, 25 catches, and 4 TDs... at 4 ypc and 7 ypr, that's still 137 fantasy points, which last year was good for RB24... and IMO that is very conservative if he stays healthy.I'm having a hard time not seeing the upside here given his ADP.

275 rushes? Kevin Jones never went above 250 in his entire career in Detroit and you think as a rookie this guys gets 275?Kevin Jones only once achieved 4 yards a carry in Detroit, 4 years ago. So, yes I am assuming he will be below 4 ypc and I think it's the correct one. The catches are probably about right. 6 TD's is reasonableI guess if I was making an over/under for Kevin Jones, I would make it 1000 yards rushing. I'd consider that a pretty successful season as the starter behind that line

OK, two responses here.First off (assuming you meant you would make it 1000 yards rushing for Kevin Smith and not Kevin Jones), if you are conceding 1000 rushing yards, 35 catches, and 6 TDs, then it seems you are conceding at least 156 fantasy points. That was good enough for RB18 last year. Which confirms that he is good value at his current ADP.Secondly, why are you using Kevin Jones' rushing attempts as a barometer for Smith? Look at his situations:2004: Had 241 carries in 15 games. But got hurt in week 3 and had a total of 6 carries over a 3 game span, including his missed game. Are you expecting Smith to get hurt? He averaged 18 carries per game in the other 13 games, which scales to 289 over 16 games.2005: Had only 186 carries in 12 games but missed time with shoulder, arm, and leg injuries. Again, are you expecting Smith to get hurt?2006: Martz had the team rush for the fewest RB rushing attempts of any NFL team in the past 6 seasons. And Jones again dealt with multiple injuries during the season.2007: Martz had the team rush for the second fewest RB rushing attempts of any NFL team in the past 6 seasons. Jones began the season on the PUP list.Seriously, why would you compare Smith to Jones? Given Martz is gone, unless you think Smith will have similar troubles staying healthy, I don't see the comparison.

 

[Tau837]

He is the starter on a team with virtually no competition. I took him at pick 63 because he will get the touches. Sometimes that's good enough in FF. Touuches , touces, touches.

Ya, sometimes it is..but then again sometimes it isn't. So is touches, touches, touches really the answer if sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't?I took Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round and there wasn't much competition.

The offensive line will need to block or this guy won't survive and he needs a bit of talent.

I think the kid has some talent. I think he shows some patience in his runs, he can bounce it out pretty quick when there's not a lot there but he also isn't a guy that breaks a lot of tackles and moves the pile forward on his own.

If you take Kevin Smith, it's not going to wreck your draft. I understand what people are saying, and there's no doubt that he's going to get every chance to succeed.

What I'm saying is that I've attended a preseason game, and watched the other games on television focusing a large part on the offensive line. You could argue it's preseason and they're not playing as hard, but then I'd have to focus on last year's rushing attack, which was VERY bad.

Up front I am not seeing the holes consistently. In fact, Kitna has played very well but I've seen him scramble for his life on more than one occasion. He's actually very good at doing that but you can't help but think one time he's going to get killed out there.

I trust what I've seen personally and that's that the Detroit Lions are struggling to run block. Kevin Smith has very little to compete against because there is very little talent going up against him, not because he's the 2nd coming of Barry Sanders.

I'm gonna have to call you on that one. Many (most?) folks correctly saw Kevin Jones as the DET RB to own last year.The only scenario in which Bell had little competition was the one in which Jones wasn't able to play.

Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round was a lousy risk/reward proposition. With no Kevin Jones looming, Kevin Smith in essentially the same draft spot is all upside.

Kevin Jones had some serious injury issues heading into last season if you recall, was supposed to go on the PUP. All of July and August, reports weren't positive on Jones. It wasn't until closer to the season came close that Jones looked like he was going only miss a couple weeks to the start of the season. Regardless of whether you liked Bell or didn't, he was being drafted.I'm not down on Kevin Smith so much, just the Lions offensive line. The good news is they may improve during the season if they don't get dinged up.

It is still a bad comparison. We have the benefit of knowing Bell got only 58 touches. So unless you think Smith will get a similarly low number of touches, the Bell comparison is invalid.

Yes it is a valid comparison. If you look at one of the original quotes.......the topic that I got started on was about Kevin Smith and he has no competition. From there, I went on about how I drafted Tatum Bell under those same thoughts. Kevin Jones late July/early August were thoughts of him possibly missing the season, being out 1/2 year etc.....with him not on the team or dinged up pretty bad left very little competition at the RB position. It wasn't until the season grew very close that we found out that Kevin Jones was going to not going on PUP etc....As far as Tatum Bell, he blows and I knew it and I still selected him because I knew he'd have the chance to be the starter with Kevin Jones out. Obviously it was a bad decision because he just isn't good enough.

NOW we know that Bell had whatever rushes he ended up with, but we didn't know last July.

I expect Smith to get around 200-220 touches and about a 3.5 ypc

200-220 touches, meaning catches and rushing attempts? How many do you expect other Detroit RBs to get? This is unjustifiably low unless you are projecting Smith to miss time.And what do you base the 3.5 ypc on? Detroit RBs averaged 4.22 ypc last season. Please elaborate.

ETA: By the way, 220 carries (if at your range's top end and all touches are carries) at 3.5 ypc does not yield 1000 rushing yards, which you just said you would project for Smith. (Assuming when you said Kevin Jones you meant Kevin Smith.) You're really confusing in these posts...

 

[Tau837]

He is the starter on a team with virtually no competition. I took him at pick 63 because he will get the touches. Sometimes that's good enough in FF. Touuches , touces, touches.

Ya, sometimes it is..but then again sometimes it isn't. So is touches, touches, touches really the answer if sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't?I took Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round and there wasn't much competition.

The offensive line will need to block or this guy won't survive and he needs a bit of talent.

I think the kid has some talent. I think he shows some patience in his runs, he can bounce it out pretty quick when there's not a lot there but he also isn't a guy that breaks a lot of tackles and moves the pile forward on his own.

If you take Kevin Smith, it's not going to wreck your draft. I understand what people are saying, and there's no doubt that he's going to get every chance to succeed.

What I'm saying is that I've attended a preseason game, and watched the other games on television focusing a large part on the offensive line. You could argue it's preseason and they're not playing as hard, but then I'd have to focus on last year's rushing attack, which was VERY bad.

Up front I am not seeing the holes consistently. In fact, Kitna has played very well but I've seen him scramble for his life on more than one occasion. He's actually very good at doing that but you can't help but think one time he's going to get killed out there.

I trust what I've seen personally and that's that the Detroit Lions are struggling to run block. Kevin Smith has very little to compete against because there is very little talent going up against him, not because he's the 2nd coming of Barry Sanders.

I'm gonna have to call you on that one. Many (most?) folks correctly saw Kevin Jones as the DET RB to own last year.The only scenario in which Bell had little competition was the one in which Jones wasn't able to play.

Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round was a lousy risk/reward proposition. With no Kevin Jones looming, Kevin Smith in essentially the same draft spot is all upside.

Kevin Jones had some serious injury issues heading into last season if you recall, was supposed to go on the PUP. All of July and August, reports weren't positive on Jones. It wasn't until closer to the season came close that Jones looked like he was going only miss a couple weeks to the start of the season. Regardless of whether you liked Bell or didn't, he was being drafted.I'm not down on Kevin Smith so much, just the Lions offensive line. The good news is they may improve during the season if they don't get dinged up.

You're really not going to get anywhere defending that Tatum Bell pick.Some folks saw him as a total deadend. And others took him in the 6th/7th.

LOL OK, I'm not defending the pick. It was the worst pick I made in any draft I was in for many reasons. The point I am trying to make is that at the time I drafted Tatum Bell....it APPEARED as if there wasn't going to be anyone else for the job or at least I was gambling on it. It didn't turn out that way, we know that.The other point is that you need more than just to be the guy getting touches, touches, touches....proof is Tatum Bell, which is something I think you said earlier.

I'm not saying Kevin Smith is Tatum Bell, what I'm saying is you do need some talent as well as the touches. Kevin Smith is going to need all the talent he can muster up running behind this line.

But the bottom line is that you are wrong in a general sense for arguing the touches, touches, touches argument. If he gets enough touches, plus a handful of TDs, he can average 3.5 ypc and well outperform his ADP. And there is really no reason to believe he will average such a low ypc in the first place.

 

[JamesTheScot]

Jones and Bell combined for 197 rushes, 763 rushing yards and 9 TD's in 2007. That's 3.8 yards per carry. (Bell ironically averaged 4.1)

Sure, that was under Martz. But is the line any better at opening holes this season? What about while trying to learn a new scheme? If not, there's going to be a lot of third and longs. That's going to translate into a lot of stalled drives.

The ability to move the chains is as important to creating touches as is the lack of competition for those touches.

I don't see Smith as being the kind of back that creates yards on his own. I think he's really going to be limited unless the O-line has made some significant progress.

 

[davearm]

He is the starter on a team with virtually no competition. I took him at pick 63 because he will get the touches. Sometimes that's good enough in FF. Touuches , touces, touches.

Ya, sometimes it is..but then again sometimes it isn't. So is touches, touches, touches really the answer if sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't?I took Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round and there wasn't much competition.

The offensive line will need to block or this guy won't survive and he needs a bit of talent.

I think the kid has some talent. I think he shows some patience in his runs, he can bounce it out pretty quick when there's not a lot there but he also isn't a guy that breaks a lot of tackles and moves the pile forward on his own.

If you take Kevin Smith, it's not going to wreck your draft. I understand what people are saying, and there's no doubt that he's going to get every chance to succeed.

What I'm saying is that I've attended a preseason game, and watched the other games on television focusing a large part on the offensive line. You could argue it's preseason and they're not playing as hard, but then I'd have to focus on last year's rushing attack, which was VERY bad.

Up front I am not seeing the holes consistently. In fact, Kitna has played very well but I've seen him scramble for his life on more than one occasion. He's actually very good at doing that but you can't help but think one time he's going to get killed out there.

I trust what I've seen personally and that's that the Detroit Lions are struggling to run block. Kevin Smith has very little to compete against because there is very little talent going up against him, not because he's the 2nd coming of Barry Sanders.

I'm gonna have to call you on that one. Many (most?) folks correctly saw Kevin Jones as the DET RB to own last year.The only scenario in which Bell had little competition was the one in which Jones wasn't able to play.

Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round was a lousy risk/reward proposition. With no Kevin Jones looming, Kevin Smith in essentially the same draft spot is all upside.

Kevin Jones had some serious injury issues heading into last season if you recall, was supposed to go on the PUP. All of July and August, reports weren't positive on Jones. It wasn't until closer to the season came close that Jones looked like he was going only miss a couple weeks to the start of the season. Regardless of whether you liked Bell or didn't, he was being drafted.I'm not down on Kevin Smith so much, just the Lions offensive line. The good news is they may improve during the season if they don't get dinged up.

You're really not going to get anywhere defending that Tatum Bell pick.Some folks saw him as a total deadend. And others took him in the 6th/7th.

LOL OK, I'm not defending the pick. It was the worst pick I made in any draft I was in for many reasons. The point I am trying to make is that at the time I drafted Tatum Bell....it APPEARED as if there wasn't going to be anyone else for the job or at least I was gambling on it. It didn't turn out that way, we know that.The other point is that you need more than just to be the guy getting touches, touches, touches....proof is Tatum Bell, which is something I think you said earlier.

I'm not saying Kevin Smith is Tatum Bell, what I'm saying is you do need some talent as well as the touches. Kevin Smith is going to need all the talent he can muster up running behind this line.

Except Tatum Bell doesn't prove that point at all... he *didn't* get touches, touches, touches.

 

[BigRed]

How has he looked and/or how good is he "supposedly" as far as catching and/or blocking?

 

[mdog1967]

How has he looked and/or how good is he "supposedly" as far as catching and/or blocking?

Never underestimate the effectiveness of the RB on the O-Line, same can be said about the QB. David Carr is a good example of chicken and egg. Carr never stayed in the pocket and hence suffered many sacks because the line had no idea where he would be at any given moment. RB's who don't go to the crease in the line and run up the Offensive lineman's back also suffer from tackles made in the backfield and low carry averages, ala Cedrick Benson. Benson seemed to shut his eyes at the line and run over his own lineman. Nothing in Smith's college resume suggest that will be a problem. Good QB's and Good RB's make good linemen, ask the Colts and the Pats why their o-line is so effective and to a man I will bet they would say its because the QB/RB and Line are in concert with each other. Smith will be the steal of FFBL drafts this season. He is that good.

 

[Ozymandias]

As I see it, if you are talking about rookie running backs, there are three who will get most of the carries on their team. The others will be involved in RBBC, and usually as the junior partner.

You have McFadden, Forte and Kevin Smith.

Nothing is a given in the NFL. People come out of college and some succeed and some fail. KS will have every chance to succeed. Because he will get the major share of the carries, there is the possibility he could be a top 20 back. The chances are not quite as good for Mendenhall and Stewart and Johnson and Hightower (although they might have better long term potential).

 

[awesomeness]

He is the starter on a team with virtually no competition. I took him at pick 63 because he will get the touches. Sometimes that's good enough in FF. Touuches , touces, touches.

Ya, sometimes it is..but then again sometimes it isn't. So is touches, touches, touches really the answer if sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't?I took Tatum Bell last year in the 6th or 7th round and there wasn't much competition.

Well, Bell got 58 touches last year. Do you really think that is a good comparison?Since you are playing the devil's advocate role here, why don't you tell us how many touches you think he will get?

According to DataDominator, from 2002 to 2007, the average NFL team had 392 rushing attempts by its RBs. Not surprisingly, Detroit has the two lowest totals over that span in 2006 and 2007 under Martz - 267 RB rushing attempts in 2006, and 278 RB rushing attempts in 2007.

I would guess that this year Detroit will still be below average, but a lot closer. Perhaps 350 RB rushing attempts. So who will get them? IMO it could easily break down like this:

Smith 275

Bell 50

Others 25

Last year, Detroit targeted its RBs 94 times. In 2006, it was 135 targets for the RBs... splitting the difference would be around 114 targets. I assume these could drop with more rushing attempts, but on the other hand, the average NFL team had 109 RB targets and 79 RB receptions from 2002 to 2007. Again, I'd assume a below average total for Detroit, perhaps 95 targets. If we assume a similar conversion rate, that would be 69 receptions. Conservatively, as the feature RB, I'd guess that Smith would get half, or about 35 receptions.

So... if he gets 310 touches, how poor can his performance be? 275 touches at 4 ypc is 1100 yards. Are you assuming he'll be below 4 ypc? Or that he'll be below 275 carries? (I'm assuming he'll stay healthy; are you?) If he gets 35 catches, isn't that at least another 250 yards or so? Or do you assume fewer catches or a ypr of less than 7 ypc? If he gets 310 touches, how many TDs do you expect? I'd say it's reasonable to project 6... do you disagree?

So if healthy, I'm looking at 310 touches, 1350 yards, and 6 TDs... 171 fantasy points. Last year, that would have been good for RB14. Suppose he gets only 240 carries, 25 catches, and 4 TDs... at 4 ypc and 7 ypr, that's still 137 fantasy points, which last year was good for RB24... and IMO that is very conservative if he stays healthy.

I'm having a hard time not seeing the upside here given his ADP.

275 rushes? Kevin Jones never went above 250 in his entire career in Detroit and you think as a rookie this guys gets 275?Kevin Jones only once achieved 4 yards a carry in Detroit, 4 years ago. So, yes I am assuming he will be below 4 ypc and I think it's the correct one. The catches are probably about right. 6 TD's is reasonable

I guess if I was making an over/under for Kevin Jones, I would make it 1000 yards rushing. I'd consider that a pretty successful season as the starter behind that line

2 bills on the under please.

 

[awesomeness]

As I see it, if you are talking about rookie running backs, there are three who will get most of the carries on their team. The others will be involved in RBBC, and usually as the junior partner.You have McFadden, Forte and Kevin Smith.Nothing is a given in the NFL. People come out of college and some succeed and some fail. KS will have every chance to succeed. Because he will get the major share of the carries, there is the possibility he could be a top 20 back. The chances are not quite as good for Mendenhall and Stewart and Johnson and Hightower (although they might have better long term potential).

Johnathon Stewart in RBBC > Forte or KSmith as a lead back.HTH

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

That would be my bet too awesomeness as you can see by my projection of attempts and ypc but others think he may go for 1300, so it kind of balances it out.

Truthfully, going for 1000 isn't that hard if you can stay healthy for an entire season. If he gets 70 yards per game, he blows it away...they key is staying healthy.

 

[(unwelcomed)GUEST]

How has he looked and/or how good is he "supposedly" as far as catching and/or blocking?

From what I've seen in only two preseason games, Smith has done a good job pass-blocking...picking up defenders coming free toward the QB. Keep in mind though, D's typically run pretty vanilla schemes in the preseason. Once the regular season starts and teams start more complicated blitz schemes, I'm not so sure how he will perform. Again, in the preseason he looks like he has a knack for picking up the right defender in pass-blocking schemes (usually a struggle for rookie RBs). The Oline looked woeful in both games that I watched, they're were very few open running lanes. Smith's speed/acceleration is very average. I don't recall seeing too much of him catching the ball but that may just be an oversite on my part.

 

[sdsjr3]

How has he looked and/or how good is he "supposedly" as far as catching and/or blocking?

Never underestimate the effectiveness of the RB on the O-Line, same can be said about the QB. David Carr is a good example of chicken and egg. Carr never stayed in the pocket and hence suffered many sacks because the line had no idea where he would be at any given moment. RB's who don't go to the crease in the line and run up the Offensive lineman's back also suffer from tackles made in the backfield and low carry averages, ala Cedrick Benson. Benson seemed to shut his eyes at the line and run over his own lineman. Nothing in Smith's college resume suggest that will be a problem. Good QB's and Good RB's make good linemen, ask the Colts and the Pats why their o-line is so effective and to a man I will bet they would say its because the QB/RB and Line are in concert with each other. Smith will be the steal of FFBL drafts this season. He is that good.

Outstanding post, couldn't agree more on the RB/QB part of this. Still not sure about Smith being S.O.D though. But I'm not going to say he won't be either. Just tough to predict anything with Detroit right now. Lot's of skill talent everywhere. Will Smith, being a rookie, show that patience and discipline all season in his rookie year, that's a big ?

 

[Deuce'sWild]

I may just gamble with Smith in week one over Jamal Lewis. I don't like Lewis's hamstring injury and the fact that he's playing against the Cowboys who may make it hard to run.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

Smith hasn't danced as much as he did at Central Florida, but he still has to take extra steps to make cuts, he doesn't generate much drive, and too often, his legs lose their spring while he's surveying the scene. He just isn't running with the crisp, efficient style an NFL RB needs to succeed. He's not getting yards after contact, and he's going down too easily. Im seeing very few gang tackles needed to bring Smith down or general decisiveness in his running style. Heck, even on his 35 yard TD run last week, he ran up the back of his blocker, then bounced it outside to the vacated part of the field. Smith made a good move on Antwan Peek to get outside, but otherwise it was good blocking by Shaun McDonald and Dan Orlovsky (who took out three Browns bowling ball style - knock one into the other two) that resulted in the TD. His other big positive run on the night was also one where he ran up the back of his blocker and then found one side of the field completely empty.

The offensive line does bear a lot of blame. There's no room to run. But unlike Matt Forte, who is in an almost identical situation, Smith does not have an ideal running style for an offense where every yard has to be ground out.

If you have an urge to take Smith, take Forte instead. Forte is getting yards after contact, he's running decisively and dragging tacklers, he's getting small through the hole, and he's also a better receiver.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

Smith hasn't danced as much as he did at Central Florida, but he still has to take extra steps to make cuts, he doesn't generate much drive, and too often, his legs lose their spring while he's surveying the scene. He just isn't running with the crisp, efficient style an NFL RB needs to succeed. He's not getting yards after contact, and he's going down too easily. Im seeing very few gang tackles needed to bring Smith down or general decisiveness in his running style. Heck, even on his 35 yard TD run last week, he ran up the back of his blocker, then bounced it outside to the vacated part of the field. Smith made a good move on Antwan Peek to get outside, but otherwise it was good blocking by Shaun McDonald and Dan Orlovsky (who took out three Browns bowling ball style - knock one into the other two) that resulted in the TD. His other big positive run on the night was also one where he ran up the back of his blocker and then found one side of the field completely empty.The offensive line does bear a lot of blame. There's no room to run. But unlike Matt Forte, who is in an almost identical situation, Smith does not have an ideal running style for an offense where every yard has to be ground out.If you have an urge to take Smith, take Forte instead. Forte is getting yards after contact, he's running decisively and dragging tacklers, he's getting small through the hole, and he's also a better receiver.

Well said, I think I've tried to say that with some comparison's in about 8 threads. One thing I seem to disagree on you with is the part to where he's running up the back of his blocker and then found room outside. You seem to view that as a bad thing......I view that as one of his positives, as he's giving his blockers at least the chance to block and then making his move off them. That's actually where he's been the most successful, everything else about him you mentioned I think is spot on.

 

[Itchy Amos]

Smith hasn't danced as much as he did at Central Florida, but he still has to take extra steps to make cuts, he doesn't generate much drive, and too often, his legs lose their spring while he's surveying the scene. He just isn't running with the crisp, efficient style an NFL RB needs to succeed. He's not getting yards after contact, and he's going down too easily. Im seeing very few gang tackles needed to bring Smith down or general decisiveness in his running style. Heck, even on his 35 yard TD run last week, he ran up the back of his blocker, then bounced it outside to the vacated part of the field. Smith made a good move on Antwan Peek to get outside, but otherwise it was good blocking by Shaun McDonald and Dan Orlovsky (who took out three Browns bowling ball style - knock one into the other two) that resulted in the TD. His other big positive run on the night was also one where he ran up the back of his blocker and then found one side of the field completely empty.The offensive line does bear a lot of blame. There's no room to run. But unlike Matt Forte, who is in an almost identical situation, Smith does not have an ideal running style for an offense where every yard has to be ground out.If you have an urge to take Smith, take Forte instead. Forte is getting yards after contact, he's running decisively and dragging tacklers, he's getting small through the hole, and he's also a better receiver.

This is exactly the type of information that I was looking for. Thanks.

 

[Addai's Adidas]

His situation is similar to Forte's, with the exception of a great passing game. With guys like Smith I just hope they plod along with 3 yards a carry and suddenly the get a GL opportunity because they just chucked the ball down the field. Good enough for me. That's all I hoped for last year with JLEW and he way outperformed that.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

Smith hasn't danced as much as he did at Central Florida, but he still has to take extra steps to make cuts, he doesn't generate much drive, and too often, his legs lose their spring while he's surveying the scene. He just isn't running with the crisp, efficient style an NFL RB needs to succeed. He's not getting yards after contact, and he's going down too easily. Im seeing very few gang tackles needed to bring Smith down or general decisiveness in his running style. Heck, even on his 35 yard TD run last week, he ran up the back of his blocker, then bounced it outside to the vacated part of the field. Smith made a good move on Antwan Peek to get outside, but otherwise it was good blocking by Shaun McDonald and Dan Orlovsky (who took out three Browns bowling ball style - knock one into the other two) that resulted in the TD. His other big positive run on the night was also one where he ran up the back of his blocker and then found one side of the field completely empty.The offensive line does bear a lot of blame. There's no room to run. But unlike Matt Forte, who is in an almost identical situation, Smith does not have an ideal running style for an offense where every yard has to be ground out.If you have an urge to take Smith, take Forte instead. Forte is getting yards after contact, he's running decisively and dragging tacklers, he's getting small through the hole, and he's also a better receiver.

Well said, I think I've tried to say that with some comparison's in about 8 threads. One thing I seem to disagree on you with is the part to where he's running up the back of his blocker and then found room outside. You seem to view that as a bad thing......I view that as one of his positives, as he's giving his blockers at least the chance to block and then making his move off them. That's actually where he's been the most successful, everything else about him you mentioned I think is spot on.

I hear ya IWBACB - I would just like to see a little better vision - maybe see the backside cut before you have to run smack into the back of blocker?

 

[Addai's Adidas]

Smith hasn't danced as much as he did at Central Florida, but he still has to take extra steps to make cuts, he doesn't generate much drive, and too often, his legs lose their spring while he's surveying the scene. He just isn't running with the crisp, efficient style an NFL RB needs to succeed. He's not getting yards after contact, and he's going down too easily. Im seeing very few gang tackles needed to bring Smith down or general decisiveness in his running style. Heck, even on his 35 yard TD run last week, he ran up the back of his blocker, then bounced it outside to the vacated part of the field. Smith made a good move on Antwan Peek to get outside, but otherwise it was good blocking by Shaun McDonald and Dan Orlovsky (who took out three Browns bowling ball style - knock one into the other two) that resulted in the TD. His other big positive run on the night was also one where he ran up the back of his blocker and then found one side of the field completely empty.The offensive line does bear a lot of blame. There's no room to run. But unlike Matt Forte, who is in an almost identical situation, Smith does not have an ideal running style for an offense where every yard has to be ground out.If you have an urge to take Smith, take Forte instead. Forte is getting yards after contact, he's running decisively and dragging tacklers, he's getting small through the hole, and he's also a better receiver.

Well said, I think I've tried to say that with some comparison's in about 8 threads. One thing I seem to disagree on you with is the part to where he's running up the back of his blocker and then found room outside. You seem to view that as a bad thing......I view that as one of his positives, as he's giving his blockers at least the chance to block and then making his move off them. That's actually where he's been the most successful, everything else about him you mentioned I think is spot on.

I hear ya IWBACB - I would just like to see a little better vision - maybe see the backside cut before you have to run smack into the back of blocker?

That run in the preseason was the exception. Lots of other runs that went absolutely nowhere.

 

[BigRed]

If you have an urge to take Smith, take Forte instead. Forte is getting yards after contact, he's running decisively and dragging tacklers, he's getting small through the hole, and he's also a better receiver.

Even conceding your take on receiving ability (can't say), Forte is however playing on a completely pathetic offense where the passing game scares no one to say the least. I think the "8 men in the box" thing tends to be overblown but would expect opposing Ds to do something along these lines quite a bit. Smith has the passing game, even if not pefect :Kitna: that will make some big plays and keep Ds much more honest, giving Smith some room.Overall it's probably more or less a coin flip on the 2 though, and would hope to get them as RB3 or 4, not 2.

 

[Itchy Amos]

If you have an urge to take Smith, take Forte instead. Forte is getting yards after contact, he's running decisively and dragging tacklers, he's getting small through the hole, and he's also a better receiver.

Even conceding your take on receiving ability (can't say), Forte is however playing on a completely pathetic offense where the passing game scares no one to say the least. I think the "8 men in the box" thing tends to be overblown but would expect opposing Ds to do something along these lines quite a bit. Smith has the passing game, even if not pefect :Kitna: that will make some big plays and keep Ds much more honest, giving Smith some room.Overall it's probably more or less a coin flip on the 2 though, and would hope to get them as RB3 or 4, not 2.

This may be so, but I think if Forte shows anything, defenses will have the ability to completely sell out to stop the run. I cant imagine Orton and company being able to muster a credible passing offense to the point that opposing defenses have anything to even begin to worry about. It just seems like the Chicago offensive line/Forte would need to be much better than the Detroit offensive line/Smith to outscore Smith.Lets say that Smith actually does get the bulk of the carries and stays healthy over the course of the season, I wonder if there are any other comparable situations. It would be interesting to know how the lead running back (call it 260 carries) for teams with two top 15 recievers that didnt feature historically low run/pass ratios fared. Does anybody know how to find something like this.

Off the top of my head, some recent situations that I can come up with are for backs that fared reasonably well.

Cincinnati (Chad Johnson & Housh) - Rudi was always very solid when healthy

Indianapolis (Harrison & Wayne) - The running game was always decent even when Edge was injured, but Indy's offense is in a differnt league as Detroits, so it isnt very comparable.

St Louis (Bruce & Holt) - Faulk was definately an elite talent, so it is probably not a reasonable comparison.

Arizona (Boldin & Fitzgerald) - maybe this is the best recent example of his situation.

-The offensive line is attrocious

-Two top talents at reciever

-One running back (of questionable skill) gets all the carries. Edge used to be great, but he isnt really the picture of power running or great speed at this point of his career.

While I dont expect Smith to get near the amount of carries that Edge got, I dont think that the Detroit line is in the same category of bad (but maybe they are). In 2006, James finished as RB20 with 1350 total yards and got in the end zone 6 times. He averaged 3.4 yards per carry.

Detroit as a team averaged 4 yards per carry last season. Lets say that drops to something like 3.6 (2006 year end average/rush). If we give Smith 260 carries at 3.6 that gives him 936 rushing, plus if you throw in another 200 yards recieving and add on 6 TDs, that would give you 149.4 points, which last season would have been good for RB22, only about 10 points shy of RB16.

I guess the only way that Smith doesnt blow RB28 away is if you think he is going to get something less than 210 carries on the season or if you are projecting him to have 2 or 3 TDs for the year.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

It might seem outlandish, but I also think Jerome Felton will have something to say about this RB situation...

- Felton has been impressive enough to win the starting FB job in his first training camp

- He ran for 63 TDs during his college career, he understands short yardage running

- He's also a good receiver

Remember, Felton was an offensive weapon more than a lead blocking FB in college. He's already taken to the fullback role well enough to be the starter as a rook. I just have a feeling the Lions may be curious to see what Felton can do in certain situations if Smith doesn't develop a hard-nosed edge to his game.

 

[Bl Deep]

The reason why this kid isn't being draft higher is because he sucks. There's a reason this kid fell to the third round, and he would have fell even farther if it weren't for Millen and his "eye" for talent.Stay away!!

The guy almost broke the NCAA single season rushing yard record last year. I think it is safe to say the guy doesnt "suck", but thanks for your in-depth analysis.

Who was the guy from Iowa St.... Troy somthing.....ya i think he's bagging groceries right now....

 

[buck naked]

Smith hasn't danced as much as he did at Central Florida, but he still has to take extra steps to make cuts, he doesn't generate much drive, and too often, his legs lose their spring while he's surveying the scene. He just isn't running with the crisp, efficient style an NFL RB needs to succeed. He's not getting yards after contact, and he's going down too easily. Im seeing very few gang tackles needed to bring Smith down or general decisiveness in his running style. Heck, even on his 35 yard TD run last week, he ran up the back of his blocker, then bounced it outside to the vacated part of the field. Smith made a good move on Antwan Peek to get outside, but otherwise it was good blocking by Shaun McDonald and Dan Orlovsky (who took out three Browns bowling ball style - knock one into the other two) that resulted in the TD. His other big positive run on the night was also one where he ran up the back of his blocker and then found one side of the field completely empty.The offensive line does bear a lot of blame. There's no room to run. But unlike Matt Forte, who is in an almost identical situation, Smith does not have an ideal running style for an offense where every yard has to be ground out.If you have an urge to take Smith, take Forte instead. Forte is getting yards after contact, he's running decisively and dragging tacklers, he's getting small through the hole, and he's also a better receiver.

Good post, but what scares me is that Forte has likely competition in Kevin Jones in a few weeks while Kevin Smith seemingly has little to no competition and a full time opportunity. In 6 - 8 weeks, Smith ought to still be starting while Forte could be in a RBBC.

 

[awesomeness]

i didn't watch the Lions/Falcons game, but for those who did how did KSmith look.

 

[massraider]

i didn't watch the Lions/Falcons game, but for those who did how did KSmith look.

He looked like he won't be buying any Rolexes for his linemen.

 

[TheFanatic]

i didn't watch the Lions/Falcons game, but for those who did how did KSmith look.

He looked like he won't be buying any Rolexes for his linemen.

That bad huh? Gotta like him getting into the endzone, but the line was that bad? Yikes...

 

[Spartans Rule]

i didn't watch the Lions/Falcons game, but for those who did how did KSmith look.

He looked like he won't be buying any Rolexes for his linemen.

That bad huh? Gotta like him getting into the endzone, but the line was that bad? Yikes...

It was. IMO Smith looked like a serviceable NFL starting RB, nothing special but he gets yards when he has room to run. He had very little room to run today.

 

[TheFanatic]

i didn't watch the Lions/Falcons game, but for those who did how did KSmith look.

He looked like he won't be buying any Rolexes for his linemen.

That bad huh? Gotta like him getting into the endzone, but the line was that bad? Yikes...

It was. IMO Smith looked like a serviceable NFL starting RB, nothing special but he gets yards when he has room to run. He had very little room to tun today.

Do they need to do some screens? How was he in the passing game? How did his hands look?

 

[maxwell1295]

i didn't watch the Lions/Falcons game, but for those who did how did KSmith look.

He looked like he won't be buying any Rolexes for his linemen.

That bad huh? Gotta like him getting into the endzone, but the line was that bad? Yikes...

It was. IMO Smith looked like a serviceable NFL starting RB, nothing special but he gets yards when he has room to run. He had very little room to tun today.

Do they need to do some screens? How was he in the passing game? How did his hands look?

He caught 4 balls for 32 yards, so I'm assuming his hands were okay. That's more than what I was expecting to get from him....

 

[TheFanatic]

i didn't watch the Lions/Falcons game, but for those who did how did KSmith look.

He looked like he won't be buying any Rolexes for his linemen.

That bad huh? Gotta like him getting into the endzone, but the line was that bad? Yikes...

It was. IMO Smith looked like a serviceable NFL starting RB, nothing special but he gets yards when he has room to run. He had very little room to tun today.

Do they need to do some screens? How was he in the passing game? How did his hands look?

He caught 4 balls for 32 yards, so I'm assuming his hands were okay. That's more than what I was expecting to get from him....

I'm just thinking that if they did some short passes to him that he could have that space he needs that the line isn't giving him. I like it for a 3rd round rookie RB....

 

[Captain Blowhard]

i didn't watch the Lions/Falcons game, but for those who did how did KSmith look.

He looked good. Everything he got he got on his own. He had some nice moves to create things when things weren't there (which was most of the time). He also looked really good and smooth in the passing game. He has the tools to be a good NFL back. His production is going to be tempered until the Lions get their crap together (if ever), but he's a solid play right now in PPR leagues, I think.

 

[MSULions]

i didn't watch the Lions/Falcons game, but for those who did how did KSmith look.

He looked good. Everything he got he got on his own. He had some nice moves to create things when things weren't there (which was most of the time). He also looked really good and smooth in the passing game. He has the tools to be a good NFL back. His production is going to be tempered until the Lions get their crap together (if ever), but he's a solid play right now in PPR leagues, I think.

frankly, he looked a lot better than I expected him too, and in the 2nd half things opened up a bit and he had a few 6-10 yard runs. some nice cuts and he's stronger than I thought. But the catches were most impressive and he was fantastic w/ the ball in some space after catching it.

 

[NYCGangGreen]

So do you think he did enough to keep Rudi as a spell back, and possibly earn the GL touches?

It's not exactly like he has too much competition, but with how bad that D looked, if the Lions go down early so much for any running game.