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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
So Indianapolis Colts running back Kenton Keith was arrested outside of night club just after 3:00 AM last night. Local police were working parking lot security at said night club apparently wanted to clear out the crowd and get home as quickly as possible. Keith, however, protested that he wasn't doing anything wrong and told the officers he was a Colts player. He got cuffed and booked for his trouble.
Charges included disorderly conduct, resisting law enforcement, public intoxication, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, because someone allegedly with Keith was 19 and got into the club with a fake ID.
Now, I'm not saying that these particular cops used to live in Martinsville or anything, but this whole situation smells of "melanin dragnet" -- the same kind of situation Steelers wideout Santonio Holmes got caught up in down in Miami two years ago. A crowd of mostly black people are hanging out outside late at night, probably because a night club just let out and they're waiting on cabs, and the cops show up and start throwing anyone of a particular skin color into the paddy wagon.
The charges against Holmes were dropped a few months later. I highly suspect these charges against Keith won't stick, either. There's nothing to see here, Colts fans. Move along.
Sure, it's easy to say that anyone could have run behind that offensive line with Peyton Manning's passing game setting him up, but if that were true, DeDe Dorsey might still be in Indianapolis. The bottom line is that you have to be good to rush for 121 yards and two touchdowns in one NFL game, and Kenton Keith is pretty good.
The former Saskatchewan Roughrider ran wild on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second half, but he also played a role in the passing game that set up his big day, catching five for 37 yards. His experience in the 3-down, 110-yard Canadian game helped him there. As Clark Judge of CBS Sports notes:
Keith is a former CFL star who played the past four years with Saskatchewan, twice rushing for 1,000 yards there. But it wasn't his running that drew him to the attention of the Colts and scout Cal Murphy; it was his pass-receiving skills, with Keith hauling in 52 passes for 513 yards last season.
"He is the one who pulled me aside and told me I was a perfect fit for this offense," Keith said of Murphy.
Judging from the photo accompanying Judge's column, Keith's also making some new friends in Indianapolis. A few more performances like that, and the ladies in Naptown might start giving him the Tim Tebow welcome.
There was nothing fancy about the Indianapolis Colts' performance today. Nobody made any highlight-reel moves. Nobody made a play that went for more than 22 yards. This offense was entirely boring in its efficiency.
It's execution, however, was just this side of flawless. The Colts had eight possessions that mattered against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers today and scored points on six of them. Peyton Manning did throw an interception, and Hunter Smith had to punt once, but other than that, the Colts just owned the ball. They held the ball for more than 38 minutes. They converted 12 of 16 3rd-down plays. They were a steamroller, and the Bucs defense was pavement.
What's more, the Colts did this without Marvin Harrison and Joseph Addai in the lineup. Kenton Keith -- yes, that Kenton Keith -- finished the day with 121 yards and 2 touchdowns on 28 carries. Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and Anthony Gonzalez each had 7 receptions from Manning, who completed 29 of 37 for 253 yards, 2 TDs and that one pick, possibly his only mistake on the day. Even without two key starters on offense, Tony Dungy's cupboard was plenty stocked.
And the amazing thing about it? The Bucs' offense really wasn't all that terrible today.
The only thing that didn't go well for the Colts in their romp of the Ravens Sunday was the state of their backfield. 
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.
Things aren't looking good for 
Things aren't looking good for 
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. 
So Indianapolis Colts running back Kenton Keith was 
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