Sleeper Running Back : Kolby Smith

The Kansas City Chiefs today released troubled starting RB Larry Johnson after a week-long suspension for posts on his Twitter page that disparaged head coach Todd Haley and gays. Johnson’s release now clears the way for the return of his former backup Kolby Smith to share carries with Jamaal Charles.

Kolby Smith’s best year was in 2007, where he played in 16 games for 407 yards and two TDs as Johnson’s backup. In 2008 he sustained a severe knee injury requiring surgery eight weeks before the end of the season. Smith played his first NFL game in Week Nine—gathering a token handful of yards and carries.

Smith’s workload is figured to increase over the course of the rest of the season as he works out a timeshare with Jamaal Charles. Smith is 5’11” 217 lbs and is thought to be a between-the-tackles runner—more suited to taking over the every down back role that Johnson has vacated. Charles is figured to be a change of pace back with strong receiving skills and could be used in that role.

The Kansas City Chiefs have a relatively inexperienced offensive line that has struggled this season to open up holes consistently for the running game. The Chiefs are a team that tends to fall behind early and often, putting more pressure on the passing game. This could be a factor in the number of carries both Charles and Smith receive from game to game.

Nevertheless, the potential is there for either or BOTH backs to become statistically relevant in the fantasy realm because they will share starting carries. The Chiefs also have a favorable schedule ahead for running backs with the porous Buffalo Bills on tap for Week 14. Running backs with at least a 50-50 timeshare split are becoming more difficult to find off waivers and Kolby Smith is a player worth stashing to see how the timeshare plays out.

He is my Sleeper RB and Top Waiver Add for Week 10.