Falcons' Ito Smith: Not seen as Coleman's replacement

Head coach Dan Quinn stopped short of naming Smith as Tevin Coleman's replacement, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. "He certainly has shown that he's capable of [replacing Coleman], but if that (Coleman leaving in free agency) takes place, there will definitely be other guys that we put into the mix to compete with (Smith)," Quinn said Wednesday at the NFL Combine.

This is not what dynasty owners wanted to hear, but there are definitely reasons Quinn feels that way. For starters, Smith topped four yards per carry in just four of 14 appearances as a rookie last season and didn't log a single carry of 20-plus yards over 90 attempts. He wasn't much of a receiving threat, either, averaging just 4.7 yards per target and 5.6 yards per catch. While it's possible Smith could make significant improvement after his first full offseason, his rookie season fell far short of proving he has the pop to replace Tevin Coleman as the lightning to Devonta Freeman's thunder.