FanHouse Kenton Keith

The only thing that didn't go well for the Colts in their romp of the Ravens Sunday was the state of their backfield.

Joseph Addai was forced to depart the game after only three yards rushing, and rookie Mike Hart suffered a bad knee injury, if reports surfacing have any accuracy. This leaves Dominic Rhodes alone in the backfield. He can deal with being the main running back, as he's done it before in Indianapolis ... but the Colts still need a backup. The Indy Star speculates:

A leading candidate is Chad Simpson, who is on the practice squad. Whomever the Colts add to the roster for Sunday's game at Green Bay likely will have some familiarity with their offense.

That might include Clifton Dawson, who saw action in 13 games a year ago but was waived Aug. 26, or Justin Forsett, who was waived last week. Forsett currently is on Seattle's practice squad. It won't include Kenton Keith, who backed up Addai last season but signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League after being released in late August.

The Colts better keep their fingers crossed that Rhodes can stay healthy and carry a full workload, because none of these candidates are even in the same ballpark as Addai or Hart talent-wise.

The only thing that didn't go well for the Colts in their romp of the Ravens Sunday was the state of their backfield.

Joseph Addai was forced to depart the game after only three yards rushing, and rookie Mike Hart suffered a bad knee injury, if reports surfacing have any accuracy. This leaves Dominic Rhodes alone in the backfield. He can deal with being the main RB, as he's done it before in Indianapolis ... but the Colts still need a backup. The Indy Star speculates:

A leading candidate is Chad Simpson, who is on the practice squad. Whomever the Colts add to the roster for Sunday's game at Green Bay likely will have some familiarity with their offense.

That might include Clifton Dawson, who saw action in 13 games a year ago but was waived Aug. 26, or Justin Forsett, who was waived last week. Forsett currently is on Seattle's practice squad. It won't include Kenton Keith, who backed up Addai last season but signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League after being released in late August.

The Colts better keep their fingers crossed that Rhodes can stay healthy and carry a full workload, because none of these candidates are even in the same ballpark as Addai or Hart, talent-wise.

The Indianapolis Colts cut running back Kenton Keith as they trimmed their roster to the NFL-mandated limit of 53, and that wasn't a huge surprise: Keith obviously wasn't going to beat out Joseph Addai for the starting job, and the Colts had signed Dominic Rhodes to be Addai's backup.

But I do find it surprising that Keith was unable to find another team that has an interest in him, and now he's considering a return to the Canadian Football League:

In an interview with Vancouver radio station CKNW, Keith's agent Jason Medlock said that he expects the former Saskatchewan Roughriders' standout to clear waivers today. When that occurs Medlock said he will explore all opportunities on both sides of the border.

Keith carried 121 times for 533 yards last year. Obviously, it's easier to do that in an offense where Peyton Manning is the quarterback than it would be if Keith signed on with another team, but still: According to Football Outsiders, Keith was actually slightly more effective, on a per-play basis, than Addai was last year. Shouldn't there be a place for a guy like that in the NFL?

I think it should be. If Keith ends up back in the CFL, a whole lot of NFL general managers are making a mistake.

Things aren't looking good for Kenton Keith's place on the Indianapolis Colts right now. Not only is Dominic Rhodes back in town after a year away, but Mike Hart was drafted. So far in the pre-season, Hart has 73 yards on only six carries while Keith has gained only 11 yards on four jaunts. Hart has also hauled in five passes for 49 yards.

Now Keith is hurt, and the Colts are hoping that he makes the team's 3:30 practice. Uh, if anything I'd guess Keith should be the one hoping he can go. We've already reported that there are several young players impressing Tony Dungy and company in camp thus far, and that several injured veterans are well on their way to exiting the PUP list quite soon.

Personally, I don't think there's any reason to keep Keith on this roster. Between Joseph Addai, Rhodes, and Hart, the Colts have all the backfield talent they need to succeed in Peyton Manning's Tom Moore's offense.

Fantasy Spin after the jump ...

Things aren't looking good for Kenton Keith's place on the Indianapolis Colts right now. Not only is Dominic Rhodes back in town after a year away, but Mike Hart was drafted. So far in the pre-season, Hart has 73 yards on only six carries while Keith has gained only 11 yards on four jaunts. Hart has also hauled in five passes for 49 yards.

Now Keith is hurt, and the Colts are hoping that he makes the team's 3:30 practice. Uh, if anything I'd guess Keith should be the one hoping he can go. We've already reported that there are several young players impressing Tony Dungy and company in camp thus far, and that several injured veterans are well on their way to exiting the PUP list quite soon.

Personally, I don't think there's any reason to keep Keith on this roster. Between Joseph Addai, Rhodes, and Hart, the Colts have all the backfield talent they need to succeed in Peyton Manning's Tom Moore's offense.

Fantasy Spin after the jump ...

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet The ...
Fantasy machine. The Rams had their run, and the Patriots were stellar last year, but there has been no offense as consistently absurd in fantasy football as the Colts for the past decade. As long as Peyton Manning is healthy -- which is always -- you could plug anyone into a prominent role and accrue stats. Case in point, Kenton Keith was a good player in the CFL; not great. Last year in limited duty for the Colts he amassed 522 yards with a 4.4 yards-per-carry average (including 28 carries, 121 yards, 2 TD in week 5). I'm convinced that I could put up five fantasy points if I suited up for the blue and white ... but that's the thing. They don't have dudes with reconstructed knees who don't work out. They have studs. Lots of them.

The Breakout
It's awfully tough to find one, considering the whole team is already established. Well, except for one man. Marvin Harrison is on the downside of his glorious career, and is still a little banged up. Peyton likes to use two outside weapons. Enter Anthony Gonzalez. He's ready to build upon a quasi-productive rookie campaign. Even if Harrison plays, Manning utilizes his third wideout quite well. Remember Brandon Stokley's 2004?

The Indianapolis Colts have signed free agent running back Dominic Rhodes, bringing him back in the fold a year after he left for the Raiders.

Rhodes won't beat out Joseph Addai for the starting job, but there's a widespread assumption that Rhodes will be an upgrade over Addai's 2007 backup, Kenton Keith. Here's what Mike Chappell writes in the Indianapolis Star:

Keith was erratic and dropped some key passes, and generally wasn't the all-around threat Rhodes had been.

But looking at the stats, that really just isn't true. Keith averaged 4.4 yards a carry in 2007; Rhodes averaged 3.4 yards a carry in 2006.

It is true that the Colts got more use out of Rhodes in the passing game than they did out of Keith -- caught 13 passes for 77 yards in 2007; Rhodes caught 36 passes for 251 yards in 2006. But that had more to do with Rhodes having more passes thrown his way.

The advanced stats at Football Outsiders for 2007 say that on a per-pass basis, Keith was basically an average receiver; in 2006 Rhodes was a below average receiver. Keith may have "dropped some key passes," but overall he was at least as effective catching the ball as Rhodes.

The bottom line is that based on their production on the field, there's every reason to believe that Keith is a better player than Rhodes. Which makes it baffling that a smart team like the Colts appears ready to give Rhodes Keith's job.

According to NFL.com, both Marvin Harrison and Joseph Addai will be inactive for the Colts-Bucs game this afternoon. What does that mean for fantasy owners? Several things.

First, if you don't already own Kenton Keith, go get him and start him in place of Addai. Secondly, you can expect Reggie Wayne to be a focal point of the Colts offense. The other guy you absolutely must have in your lineup this afternoon is Dallas Clark. He should be good for close to 100 receiving yards and a touchdown with the lack of firepower coming out of the Colts offense and is a must start this week.

Peyton Manning, of course, has his value hurt a little, but you're certainly not going to bench him (one could actually argue that no Addai means more passing for Peyton, but it's reasonably semantical at that point). So, to recap: Pick up Keith and in one simultaneous motion, bench Addai and start Keith.