Fantasy Football Cafe Forum

by **petedog9** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:45 am

They have 3 backs and I am at a real loss as to which one of the 3 will be of fantasy value..
At first look, here is what you get...

Kevin Smith- Listed as the starter, Good pass catcher / pass protector
Jahvid Best - Concussion, may not be ready until week 4 of preseason
Mike Leshoure- Hamstring injury has limited him thus far in camp

What are your thoughts and projections on how this plays out? Detoit is obviously a high powerrred offense and if one of these back gets the bulk of the workoad, they would make for a nice late round value....

by **Sex Panther** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 11:52 am

If all 3 are healthy, I think they will model themselves after the Saints RB trio in an effort to keep all 3 on the field...

Best = Sproles
LeShoure = Ingram
Smith = Thomas

In theroy of course.

That said, all 3 could hold fantasy relevane considering the offense they operate in.

Best/Smith more so in PPR, LeShoure more so in standard IMO.

by **moochman** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:41 pm

And they are all huge injury risks. Kevin Smith will start the season opener if he can make it through preseason. I fear that Best is not going to be cleared, nor stay healthy if he gets cleared to be worthy of drafting in any capacity other than a sleeper pick. If he does get cleared to play I think the Lions will use him as a specialty back only in hopes to extend his career. The poor dude is a one bell ringing from retirement.
If I could only take one Lions RB it would be Leshoure. He has to sit out the first two games and has a sore hammy in camp. A problem that could linger all season since that seems to be a pattern with achilles recoveries. He has much more burts and power than Smith, and showed good hands and feet catching the ball out of the backfield in practice before getting hurt last year.
In summation;
K Smith starts this season, injury risk, lacks power. will get surprise yards since no one will key on him.
Best a poor man's Sproles, one hit away from the end, if he isn't there already. roll may be limited.
Leshoure. injury risk, good power, hands, shifty. two game suspension, unproven.

Two words come to mind: Look elsewhere. or Good Luck.

by **petedog9** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 8:30 pm

Damn it Mooch... Lie to me..... I was hoping for a better report but trust your analysis...

by **moochman** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 11:45 pm

petedog9 wrote:Damn it Mooch... Lie to me..... I was hoping for a better report but trust your analysis...

Hey brother, I have two on my dynasty team. For what its worth, I have been told that I am a negative person when it comes to my Leos. And I do like Leshoures odds if he can keep his legs under him. and K Smith should have a very nice chance in week one to put up pts. Zat help?

by **petedog9** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 11:29 am

See.. Leshoure wasnt in my mix until now but I will throw him into my process. I was leaning heavy on Smith due to his pass catching. I just think that Detroit would be scary good with a legit between the tackles bruising RB.

Good work as always mooch. ;-D

by **Cuffs** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 12:28 pm

Am I crazy for thinking that at age 25, it's not too late for Kevin Smith to finally play a full season and realize his potential? Maybe so. (That doesn't stop me from indicting McFadden for the same reason.)

I keel thinking that in 2009, when Smith was hyped for a breakout year, Stafford was young, then injured, and Detroit was nowhere near as good as they are today. Now Smith is well over a year removed form the ACL injury. He averaged 4.9 ypc once he came back last season and had 530 total yards on 94 touches (7 tds) in the regular season. Plus he's by far the best pass protector, and Stafford is the asset the Lions most want to protect, so it seems like they're going to use him a lot more for that reason alone. And his receiving ability means he's not tanked by exceptional run defenses or playing from behind (to the extent the lions do much of that this year).

Moochman is clearly the Lions expert around here, and all the stuff in this post is based totally on inference from looking at the stat sheets without more. But I'm targeting Smith as a mid-round pick and I'll reach a round or so to get him if I need an RB at all. I feel like he can be a really good value there, similar to Beanie Wells last year.

by **Azrael** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:44 pm

I never would have guessed Kevin Smith is only 25 years old.

by **moochman** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 1:35 pm

Azrael wrote:I never would have guessed Kevin Smith is only 25 years old.

Yeah, that is surprising. It seems like he is already a has been on the comeback trail. Should give Smith owners some encouragement. Still has to stay away from the injuries that have plagued him.

by **stomperrob** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 5:35 pm

CBS Sports' Jason LaCanfora reports Lions GM Martin Mayhew has been calling other teams in search of a running back.

This report suggests not only that the organization is aiming higher than free agent Ryan Grant, but also that Kevin Smith's ankle injury could end up leaving his status up in the air for the season opener. Smith missed practice again on Tuesday. Saints power back Chris Ivory makes a lot of sense; he's fourth on the depth chart, and undrafted rookie Travaris Cadet has impressed in preseason action.
Related: Chris Ivory
Source: Jason LaCanfora on Twitter
Aug 28 - 2:41 PM

http://www.rotoworld.com/playernews/nfl ... -news?rw=1