Wells seems to have finally figured out that
a) he's going to have to learn to love special teams if he wants to stay in the NFL (actually he started learning that last year)
and
b) if he doesn't want to spend the rest of his career third on the depth chart and earning his (relatively low) salary on special teams then he needs to do what the coaches tell him to do, which is "hit the friggin hole!"
This year Wells has looked better than any time since we drafted him. He's lighter (though still not small by any stretch of the imagination) and appears to be a half step quicker (though he's still not fast by any stretch of the imagination). He's also running with more authority and decisiveness. He's getting positive yards and not dancing around behind the line of scrimmage which is good to see. Coaching appears to be sinking in which is nice to see.
Contract year? Maybe that's the reason. Wouldn't be the first time someone stepped it up to get a new deal. I don't think it's just a contract thing though. Wells isn't going to be in big demand IMO. I think he's stepped it up to just stay employed.
The downside is he hyperextended his knee and it's got to heal up before we see him again. He's looking pretty good though. He's no threat to unseat Davis and I can't see him passing Hollings on the depth chart anytime soon but he looks like a very nice 3rd back who contributes on special teams and who may, if he keeps working develop into our "big" change of pace guy and/or goal line back.