The Lions have a talented trio of backs in Jahvid Best, Mikel Leshoure, and Kevin Smith, but that trio also happens to be incredibly injury prone. Best is expected to start the season on the PUP and miss at least 6 games as he recovers from concussions suffered last season. He might not be able to play at all this season. Leshoure, meanwhile, is coming off a torn Achilles and has yet to play in a preseason game. Smith has suffered several injuries in his career as well, which have limited him to 106 carries in the last 2 seasons.

Behind them on the depth chart, all the Lions have is Keiland Williams, a mediocre 2010 undrafted free agent who has a career average of 3.7 YPC on 123 career carries. For this reason, it’s no surprise that the Lions are keeping an eye on free agent running backs. They were tied to Cedric Benson before he signed with division rival Green Bay earlier this month.

After him, the most obvious veteran running back left on the market for them would be Ryan Grant, but it’s telling that the Packers decided to sign Benson rather than resigning Grant, who was familiar with the team and the system. As he heads into his age 30 season, he might be done. While no deal seems imminent, the Lions have brought in several backs for visits and could sign one of them during the season if Leshoure or Smith gets hurt again.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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