Kevin Smith to be a game time decision. Smith has shoulder and knee injuries, but the shoulder is more worrisome. The feeling from the Lions beat writers is that he won’t play, so Smith owners should make other plans. Glen Coffee is a nice alternative, if available. Tashard Choice should get plenty of playing time with Felix Jones sidelined and Marion Barber banged up. If neither are available, Maurice Morris will get most of the work with Smith out.
Cowboys expect MBIII to play on Sunday. The team says he was close to playing on Monday night, but they decided to rest him another week. With Felix Jones out, I’d expect Barber and Tashard Choice to split the work, with Barber getting the goal line duties and Choice getting a healthy number of carries and most of the third-down snaps. Denver’s defense has played well, but the competition (CIN, CLE and OAK) has been very suspect. Barber and Choice are both decent starts this week.
Glen Coffee should get plenty of work with Frank Gore sidelined. The 49ers do use Michael Robinson from time to time in the passing game, but expect Coffee to get the lion’s share of touches while Gore is out. Coffee is a good start (RB2) this week against the Rams and is a must-grab if he’s still somehow out there on your waiver wire.
Chris Wells isn’t playing much because he doesn’t know the entire offense. HC Whisenhunt says that Wells is behind the curve because he missed time in camp. When the Cardinals trail, they’ve been using Tim Hightower exclusively, which is why he’s been so valuable in PPR leagues. With Arizona on bye this week, Wells should be able to play catch up. It might be a good time to sell Hightower while his stock is pretty high.
