Kevin Smith is part of a dying breed. Since Week 10 of last season, Smith has been a true feature back in every sense of the word. He gets about 20 carries every Sunday, he plays on third-downs and he doesn’t rotate series. What thanks does he get? Nicks, pains and a possible plan to reduce his workload.

After Smith aggravated his shoulder injury and tweaked his foot against the Rams Sunday, coach Jim Schwartz hinted that Maurice Morris will play a bigger role in the offense. Smith left the game early and didn’t come back in even though Schwartz said he could have. Morris picked up 63 yards on 14 carries while Smith got 45 yards on 16 carries. Here are quotes, courtesy of the Detroit Free Press:

“[Morris] did a good job, and that’s why we signed Maurice in the offseason,” Schwartz said. “He’s a running back that is proven in this league. And he’s gonna need to carry a load for us. He had some injury problems, been set back over the first half of the season, but we need him at full speed and we need him to be able to get some yards like that.”

The truth of the matter is that Smith’s 3.1 yards per carry average on the season is putrid. Is he getting worn down? Probably.

Over Smith’s last 16 NFL games, he’s touched the ball 349 times (308 rushes, 41 catches). In his final year of college, the Central Florida coaches strapped a saddle to his back. He carried the ball a stunning 450 times in 2007. These numbers are too high for someone of his size (6’1/211).

Smith was a valuable fantasy player mostly because of his workload. He’s currently the No. 19 fantasy RB in non-PPR leagues heading into the Monday night game. That value looks like it’s about to take a hit.