I believe they gave Rhodes most of the playing time because as tmanubc put it, he's more experienced. Plus his blocking skills come in handy against a very tough Jags D this year. Addai is clearly the more productive back however (I have both). Fairly soon he will be getting most of the carries in the offense, just when is the issue. Addai should be a big factor this week, having given up a career day to McGahee, Losman and Parrish, the defense doesn't look too strong. Followed by a week against the Titans. However the rest of the schedule really doesn't favor Indy.
Here is their remaining schedule:
Week 4 - NY Jets allowing 134 yards/game, 5 TDs in 3 games
Week 5 - Tennessee allowing 163 yards/game, 5 TDs in 3 games
Week 6 - Bye
Week 7 - Washington allowing 95 yards/game, 2 TDs in 3 games
Week 8 - Denver allowing 106 yards/game, 0 TDs in 3 games
Week 9 - New England allowing 98 yards/game, 1 TD in 3 games
Week 10 - Buffalo allowing 116 yards/game, 2 TDs in 3 games
Week 11 - Dallas allowing 85 yards/game, 2 TDs in 2 games
Week 12 - Philadelphia allowing 93 yards/game, 2 TDs in 3 games
Week 13 - Tennessee allowing 163 yards/game, 5 TDs in 3 games
Week 14 - Jacksonville allowing 59 yards/game, 2 TDs in 3 games
Week 15 - Cincinatti allowing 113 yards/game, 4 TDs in 3 games
Week 16 - Houston allowing 163 yards/game, 5 TDs in 3 games*
Week 17 - Miami allowing 104 yards/game, 0 TDs in 3 games
The weeks bolded seem to be strong matchups for the Colts while the others are decent to poor rushing matchups. Denver is in the bottom half of the league in terms of rushing yards allowed per game but giving up 0 TDs easily makes up for it IMHO. The defenses, other than Dallas and Jax, don't appear to be too stingy but you have to factor in that the Indy rushing attack has looked less than average so far. On top of that if Addai is the "starter", Rhodes will still be getting carries. So if you expect Indy to continue averaging 81 yards rushing per game, then you have to expect Rhodes to steal at least 20-25% of them if Addai becomes the guy.
Plus you have to figure that Indy could only manage 125 yards rushing against the Texans, obviously increasing their 81 yards rushing average. They managed only 55 against the Giants and 63 against the Jags. So if you're averaging 80 yards with Rhodes taking 20%, you're looking at Addai getting 60 yards/game and maybe a TD. It all depends on the matchup however, as he should fair much better than that against the Titans, Bills, Texans, Jets and Bengals. But the entire running game has looked anything but spectacular to this point so the matchup might not matter.
*Average distorted a bit after the Redskins ran for 234 yards and 3 TDs on them in week 3.
