A quick and dirty scan of all the opponents facing the weakest rush defenses yields which RBs should be starting - DeAngelo Williams, LaDanian Tomlinson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Thomas Jones, Kevin Smith, Adrian Peterson and whoever starts for Baltimore. That will be either Willis McGahee or Ray Rice. Regardless, either back will be productive with a slight edge towards Rice and his participation in the passing game.

A slight caveat to that list of RBs is the QB situation in Detroit. The Lions are starting Daunte Culpepper just days after signing him. Depending on how quickly Culpepper can be effective in the passing game, Kevin Smith may find himself running into a defensive front that Jacksonville has failed to show with any consistency this season.

Ten Worst Rush Defenses:

Here's the second part of my review of this year's rookie running backs. Part 1 can be found here.

Two Stars
 
Darren McFadden, Oak - He was considered the best rookie running back prospect coming into the season, but so far he hasn't come close to that title. He had a huge 21 carry, 164 yard performance in Week 2, but has totaled less than 140 yards total in the four games since then.  He also has had fewer than nine carries in each of the past three games.  There's no way for him to succeed if the Raiders just don't use him.  That may change under new coach Tom Cable, but the early signs are that the Raiders are going back to Justin Fargas so it's just more fantasy chaos from the Raiders.  Things don't look like they're going to get better for McFadden owners this season.
 
Kevin Smith, Det - Considering the Lions have been terrible so far, and considering the Lions don't give him enough carries (only one game with more than ten carries), Jones is doing relatively well.  His 4.9 yds/carry average and touchdowns in two of the past three games are positives. However, you don't want to hear about positives if your fantasy team is losing because you had been counting on him.  Has a lot of potential upside for the second half, but right now he's unreliable for your fantasy team.   The best you (and the city of Detroit) can hope for is for a coaching change.  Very soon.  Please hurry.
 
One Star
 
Tim Hightower, Arz - He's a touchdown machine (five TDs in six games) but not much else.  In larger leagues, that's enough.  He's a gamble every week, but if Edge goes down Hightower will be a fantasy star in every league. 
 
Felix Jones, Dal - He was shaping up as a nice flex option before his injury, especially in leagues that score for kick/punt returns.   As long as the Cowboys don't panic and rush him back too soon, he should be  productive for the rest of the year. 
 
 
Zero Stars
 
Jamaal Charles, KC - He hasn't done anything yet, but with Larry Johnson benched/suspended/overpaid for the rest of the season, there's a very good chance Charles may have the starting job some time soon.  He's a guy to grab now if he's still available in your league.
 
Ray Rice, Bal - There were reports in the offseason that Rice was looking so impressive the Ravens were considering cutting Willis McGahee and handing the starting job to Rice. Eh, not seeing it.  A 3.0 yd/carry average isn't going to impress anybody.  Barring a McGahee injury (which, now that I think about it, is almost inevitable) he won't have any fantasy value.
 
Rashard Mendenhall, Pit - He was damn unlucky picking up a season-ending injury right before Willie Parker did, but to be honest he didn't look that great before the injury.

Sean Yuille of Pride of Detroit, the SBNation's Detroit Lions blog, brings you fantasy tips from the Motor City.

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Running back Kevin Jones has been quietly recuperating from knee surgery ever since the Lions cut him in a somewhat surprising move before the NFL Draft.   He put on a show for NFL scouts, but only four teams bothered sending anybody.

Kevin Jones went through a workout Saturday while four NFL teams watched the running back sprint and cut just five months after he had major knee surgery.

Dr. D.S. Ping, who has been helping Jones rehabilitate his right knee, said Miami, Green Bay, Pittsburgh and Detroit sent representatives to the workout in Saline, Mich.

The Lions cut their former first-round pick in March with one year left on his contract after he hurt the knee late last season, adding to the injury woes that have stunted his success in the league.

The Cleveland Browns also called, Ping said, and asked for a video of the workout.

And what were the RB-needy Texans doing at this time?  Watching cartoons?  Come in Houston!

Anyway, Jones would have no fantasy value on the Dolphins, Packers or Steelers so let's hope he doesn't go there.   He would be a backup for Jamal Lewis in Cleveland, but that's not any good either.   

However, Jones would arguably be the starting running back for the Lions if he ended up there.  A healthy Jones is probably better than Tatum Bell, and rookie Kevin Smith is still untested (though he has promise).   Of course, it would make the Lions look like idiots to cut Jones in favor of Bell, draft a rookie RB because you don't like Bell, then bring back Jones because you don't like the rookie you just drafted, but hey, these are the Lions.   So anything's possible.

 The Lions needed to come out of this year’s draft with a running back.  They HAD to.  The team had dropped Kevin Jones and was now left with Tatum Bell, Brian Calhoun and Aveion Cason.  Yeeesh! 

 This being the Lions, they had plenty of needs so they spent their first two picks on a gigantic offensive lineman and an outside linebacker.  No problems there, at least it wasn't  two wide receivers.  Then they used the first pick of the third round on Kevin Smith (64^th overall), a 6’1", 217 lb running back from Central Florida, not to be confused with Kevin Smith, the considerably less-fit movie director. 

 While there are no such things as sleepers in fantasy football anymore, Kevin Smith might be pretty sleepy.  Smith will compete with Bell for the starting job right away and – considering it’s Tatum Bell – should win the job outright as the season starts.  Smith isn’t a traditional power back, but he can run hard between the tackles.  He’s also a workhorse – he set the NCAA single season record with 450 carries his senior year.

Let me repeat that.  This guy carried the ball FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY TIMES last season.  The previous record was 405 times, set by a pretty good running back named Marcus Allen.  While the competition Smith faces in the NFL will be harder than what he faced at Central Florida, at least you know this guy has a serious motor. 

Bell will grab some carries, but I expect to see Smith as the every down back in Detroit this year.  The Lions are still a pass-first team, but Smith should produce enough to be worth starting on your fantasy team.  Period. That’s it. Nothing fancy, just that.

Smith.  Starter. Fantasy.

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