Is Kevin Smith Still a Good Fit in Detroit?

There are many reasons to admire Detroit running back Kevin Smith. He has a great attitude and outstanding work ethic. He's fearless when powering the ball up the middle, has great hands out of the backfield, and is a solid blocker.

Drafted by the Lions in the third round of the 2008 draft (64th overall pick), Smith signed a three-year, $1.799 million contract and proceeded to rack up 976 yards on 238 carries and score eight touchdowns. His longest run was 50 yards.

Smith also had 286 receiving yards on 39 receptions in 16 games that season.

In the 13 games Smith played during the 2009 season, he ran for 747 yards and scored four touchdowns. His longest run was for 31 yards. Smith's effectiveness as a receiver improved markedly, with 41 grabs for 415 yards and one receiving touchdown.

After tearing the ACL in his left knee during Week 14 last season in a 48-3 blowout loss to the Ravens, Smith surprised many people when only six months after major surgery, he had recovered enough to participate in the Lion's June minicamp.

Smith's rapid recovery from this very serious injury permitted him to see limited action during Detroit's second preseason game against the Steelers, and then score one touchdown on 8 runs and snag two receptions against the Browns this week.

A test of character

When the Lions moved back into the first round of the 2010 April draft to select running back Jahvid Best with the 30th overall pick, Smith, always a team player, didn't grumble. Instead, he supported the move and has since gone out of his way to help Best get up to speed.

By any measure, Kevin Smith is a class act and a true gridiron warrior.

When the weather gets bad and the wind gets blowing...

Lions' head coach Jim Schwartz has said:

"We need to build a team to have to go up to Lambeau Field in late December and win a game. We have to be built to go into Soldier Field and win a game in December or January that could mean the division. When the weather gets bad and the wind gets blowing, you have to be able to run the ball..."

Schwartz clearly gets the importance of a consistent running game.

Operating a running game by committee

Almost every team in the NFL has bought into the "running game by committee" philosophy because it makes sense these days. Fantasy football aficionados may hate it, but real NFL teams embrace shared carries in order to maintain a viable running game during the regular season and win during the postseason.

Sharing backfield touches prolongs the longevity of running backs. It allows coaches to utilize the best running back possible for every situational down. And although some rare running backs seem to get stronger and more effective late in a game after 20 carries, most decidedly do not.

Ideally an NFL running back committee would be composed of powerbacks and very quick and speedy in-space juke-meisters, all of whom can also catch the ball and gain yardage after a reception.

This season, Detroit has a solid mix of both types of running backs.

Jahvid Best and Aaron Brown are lightning in a bottle. Uncork them in the right situation and either back has the ability to take it all the way home. Both have great speed, good hands, and stop-on-a-dime-and-change-direction-without-losing-speed-maneuverability.

The Lions currently also have a number of decent  powerbacks, including Kevin Smith, Maurice Morris and DeDe Dorsey, as well as hybrid FBs Jerome Felton and Jake Nordin, all of whom have good hands.

The looming September 4th roster cut

On September 4th, every team in the NFL is required to reduce their rosters from 75 to 53 players. Last year, the Lions carried five running backs on their final roster. Today, Detroit has seven RBs. Some of these guys will inevitably have to be cut, and soon.

NFL teams are allowed to carry eight players on their practice squads, nine if one of those players lives outside of the U.S.

Practice squad players earn a whopping $5,200 a week for risking life and limb and the chance to join a roster as an active player.

It's no wonder then that good teams love to snatch players from other team's practice squads. Not only have those players proved to be valuable enough to be kept after camp, but they are essentially inexpensive free agents. Additionally, raiding teams are not required to compensate the host team for a hoist.

A good example of this vulnerability would be Lyndon Murtha. Last year the Miami Dolphins plucked the Lions' 7th round draft pick from Detroit's practice squad and immediately plugged him into their roster as a promising backup OT.

There is a very strong probability that Aaron Brown would be vacuumed up from Detroit's practice squad this year, which makes placing him on it foolish.

Maurice Morris is essentially an older Kevin Smith clone. DeDe Dorsey has more speed than either Smith or Morris as he demonstrated during this year's preseason game against Pittsburgh. Any of these players would also likely be snatched from the Lions' practice squad.

To recap (keeping in mind that it was only a preseason game):

Jahvid Best's had 51 yards on his lone run against Cleveland.

Aaron Brown averaged 6.8 yards on five carries and scored two TDs, while DeDe Dorsey averaged 4.5 yards on two carries.

Jerome Felton had a 6.2 yard rushing average on six carries.

Kevin Smith averaged 2.5 yards on 8 carries with one TD during the same game.

Know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em

Clearly, Kevin Smith's contract cost will not be a deciding factor in the decision of whom to cut and whom to keep this season. But it might be next year.

Smith does have an annoying habit of stopping his north-south progress to stutter-step before he hits a hole, even though he does not have the explosive speed or evasive moves necessary to compensate for the resulting interruption of his forward momentum.

This might be a correctable flaw, but so far Smith's ability to hit the hole, elude tacklers and accelerate for big gains beyond the line of scrimmage at this early point of his career is average.

None of Detroit's other powerbacks is clearly superior to Kevin Smith. With his contract expiring next season, there is good no good reason to cut Smith this year, except for possible concerns about his durability as a result of his recent knee injury.

However, a trade is another matter, especially if it yielded a quality LB or CB.

Barring a trade, expect Detroit to include Smith on their final 53 man roster this year and for Scott Linehan to give Smith an opportunity to demonstrate that he can, in fact, be a valuable member of the Lions running back committee.

Realistically, if Smith hopes to make the Lions' final roster cut next season. he will have to raise his 2010 rushing average from the anemic 3.4 yards-per-carry that he accomplished last year to a more respectable five yards or better.

As for the quandary involved in selecting Detroit's other two RBs on September 4th, I'd favor Dorsey and Felton, but that's why coaches get paid big bucks and writers don't.

Note to my esteemed and very prolific fellow B/R writer, Ali Hammoud: Ali, I wrote this article before you posted your very similar and excellent piece. I decided to publish my work anyway because Lions' fans deserve another opinion.