Now you gotta ask, what type of RB does it take to run without the lead blocking of a FB? Is Mendenhall that guy?
Teams do it all the time. Watching the Colts they ran a lot of misdirection, unbalanced lines, pulling guards, and all sorts of wild schemes to free up the RB without the use of a lead blocker. The Cards kept trying to use Housler as a lead blocker, pulling him from the opposite side. Never worked.
If we need someone to lead in short yardage there's always Dockett.
One of the biggest problems I saw over the last couple of years, other than Housler not being able to block anybody, with the Cards run game was that they'd get blown up from the backside. If they ran left a defender from our right side would make the tackle.