JFS171
Footballguy
Did he? 11 carries for 31 yards against a Falcons defense that ranked 21st in run defense DVOA entering last night. He added 4 receptions for 24 yards, though it should be noted that three of those receptions came on the final drive from Mike Glennon after Smith left the game. In fact, four of their final six plays while Atlanta was in total prevent defense were dump-off targets to Barber -- four of his five targets on the night came post Smith injury with Glennon at QB. I don't really know that we can say he played well.
Yeah I actually don't know how this progresses from here, assuming these are the guys we have to work with (Barber, Smith, James). Smith looked explosive, but he fumbled, got banged up, and generally didn't see much usage. He had 5 carries for 25 yards, but... only 5 carries. And he only got 4 targets on the night too, which sure -- he probably gets more on that final garbage time drive, but... not what we want to see here.
Mike James though... only had one carry, but he caught all three of his targets on the night and seemed to have a couple of series to himself, three days after he resigned with the team. To me... he could be the guy that takes over by next week. And while I get what @SameSongNDance is saying about avoiding this, I feel like if there's a clear guy, most of the time this will be a productive backfield. Who knows when Martin or Quizz return? The schedule is very nice... I might let James sit on the bench for another week to see if my read on this plays out correctly.
