If you hadn't heard by now, the hamstring injury Texans RB Arian Foster has been dealing with could be much more severe than initially realized.
ESPN's John Clayton posted this on his Twitter account:
Arian Foster tweeted his hamstring MRI and it sure doesn't look like he's been in the lineup when the season starts. He has a tear.
To follow up on this story, ESPN medical analyst Michael Kaplan had this to say about Foster's hamstring tear:
"He's torn some of the muscle fibers, we'll call it Grade 1 to 2," said Kaplan. "There's a fair amount of swelling and bleeding on the MRI, so this is real. ... It's gonna be a couple weeks at least. If you get him back too soon, he's at a high risk of re-rupture. I think they're gonna go a little slow with him."
While it is too soon to rush to judgment until we get an official announcement from the team, now might be an excellent opportunity to drop a lower-tiered player at another position and pick up RB Ben Tate. While owners will still have to worry about RB Derrick Ward, Tate's upside in this crucial situation is simply too much to pass up. Remember, the team had initially drafted Tate last year to be the future starter until he was sidelined for the season and Foster blew up.
If you missed out on Tate, or Tate is already drafted in larger leagues, it wouldn't hurt you to take Ward. He is still listed as the No. 2 behind Foster, but has been outplayed by Tate so far in the preseason. At best, the Texans could go with a committee, giving both players some value.
Update:
Houston Chronicle's John McClain (enter Die Hard jokes) has recently reported that he believes Foster's hamstring injury isn't as serious as ESPN initially made it out to be. Here is his assesment:
Since the Texans returned from San Francisco, Foster hasn’t been limping. He’s been jogging at two practices. They left him behind to rehab rather than make the trip to Minnesota for the last preseason game.
I’ve talked to just about everyone about Foster’s hamstring, including Foster, and I expect him to play against the Colts.