Fantasy football can be a tricky proposition especially when dealing with injured players from the year before. One name that is going to come up a lot in discussions about the upcoming season is Houston Texans running back Arian Foster. Foster is coming off of back surgery that limited him to just eight games last season for the Texans but appears to be completely healthy heading into the 2014 season. The question now is what fantasy owners should do about Foster.
He is going to be depended on a lot to carry the Houston offense if there is a young quarterback under center to begin the 2014 season whether it is Case Keenum or fourth-round draft pick Tom Savage. Ryan Fitzpatrick was signed as well and would take some pressure off Foster if he ends up being the starter instead. New Texans coach Bill O’Brien has a history of leaning on his running backs as well so Foster is likely going to get a ton of work in the rushing game and out of the backfield as a receiver. He has the potential to get back to his value as a first-round pick soon but fantasy owners need to be very careful about picking Foster too high even after watching highlights like these.
There are plenty of solid running back options that should be taken before Foster like Andre Ellington, Giovani Bernard and Zac Stacy. There are some mock drafts out there that have Foster as a first round pick already. There is simply too much risk out there to be selecting Foster that high though going into this season. He is someone who should be taken though before the third round is over and even the second round in a deep league.
Foster could very easily get back to rushing for over 1,200 yards and having 50-60 catches out of the backfield. Foster is in the same boat as Doug Martin coming off a season-ending injury with both players being potential bounce back candidates who may pay huge dividends for fantasy owners. Anytime an owner can get a starting running back, that player must be taken. This applies to Foster in a big way especially without Ben Tate lurking behind him in the backfield. This is still a player who rushed for over 1,220 yards in each of the previous three seasons before 2013. Foster is in the top 25 or 30 players going into the season and owners should try to get him as a value late in the second round or early in the third.