The Lions have an injury prone trio at running back. Jahvid Best will begin the season on the PUP and miss at least the first 6 weeks of the season. He’s also a candidate to go on IR after the first 6 weeks if he is not clear of concussion related symptoms. Meanwhile, Mikel Leshoure is suspended for the first 2 weeks of the season and missed most of Training Camp as he tries to work his way back from a torn Achilles that the 2011 2nd round pick suffered last offseason. He still has yet to have a carry in an NFL game that counts.
Kevin Smith, another injury prone back, is expected to get the week 1 start and probably remain the starter throughout the season. However, Smith could easily get hurt again. He left the Lions’ 3rd preseason game with an ankle problem last week and, while he seems to be fine, it’s definitely not what you want to see, especially for someone who missed time with an ankle problem last year. Behind that trio, the Lions only have Keiland Williams, a 2010 undrafted free agent who has averaged just 3.7 yards per carry on 123 career carries.
They need a better insurance policy than Williams behind that trio, so makes sense that the Lions have been looking at free agent running backs, including Cedric Benson, who recently signed with the Packers, and Ryan Grant, who is still a free agent. However, in addition to that, it appears the Lions have also been working the phones trying to trade for a veteran running back, according to a report from NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora.
This is unlikely to be a back like Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew. While MJD is holding out and says he’d welcome a trade, the Jaguars say they are not going to discuss trading him. If they do end up trading him, it will be during the season, if MJD skips a few regular season games, and only for an offer they can’t refuse like the one the Raiders gave the Bengals for Carson Palmer last year. It wouldn’t be smart for the Lions to give the Jaguars an offer they can’t refuse just to sign a guy who hasn’t practiced with a team since last season a giant contract, especially since he plays a position that has a short shelf self. Besides, the Lions’ running back issues are more urgent than a just “wait and see” on MJD.
One name who makes a lot of sense is the Saints’ Chris Ivory. Ivory is a talented back who has always stepped up when injuries have struck for the Saints at running back as the 2010 undrafted free agent has averaged 5.0 YPC in his career on 216 carries. However, the Saints have 3 guys locked into spots at running back, Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles, and Pierre Thomas and don’t have an obvious need for Ivory.
He’ll need the Saints to keep 4 running backs to avoid being a final cut and even if they do, they may opt to keep undrafted rookie Travaris Cadet over him because Cadet is more versatile. It probably wouldn’t take a whole lot for the Saints to part with Ivory in a trade and he could have a big impact for the Lions as an insurance policy at running back. Owed just $540,000 this season, before being a restricted free agent this offseason, he wouldn’t be cost prohibitive for the Lions at all either.
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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