Former Texans Arian Foster: Good fit, or progress stopper?

After seven season as a member of the Houston Texans, Arian Foster is set to join the Miami Dolphins. Will he be a good fit, or a progress stopper?

On Monday the Miami Dolphins announced they had come to terms with former Houston Texans running back, and franchise rushing leader, Arian Foster. Undrafted in 2009 out of Tennessee, Foster became a household name in 2010 when he exploded for 1,616 yards and 16 touchdowns.

From there he became one of the best running backs in the entire NFL and had another three seasons of 1,200-yards-or-more in four years.

However, injuries had started to pile up thanks to the amount of carries Foster took and by 2015 he was only able to manage 163 yards on 63 carries (an average of 2.6 yards per attempt) in four games played.

Houston moved on from their franchise leading rusher this past offseason and signed Lamar Miller away from the Miami Dolphins to replace him. As fate would have it, Foster is now in line to try and fill the void Miller left in South Beach.

The question though is does Foster help this team, or will his presence be a progress stopper for a team that Foster himself called young.

"“They’re a young team, a hungry team,” Foster said via ESPN after the Dolphins officially announced the signing. “[They have] a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. I think they have the right head coach and the right people in the front office. They’re all committed to winning there.”"

Foster will be 30 years old in August, which is pretty high up there for running backs in the NFL. Before Monday, the Dolphins depth chart had 23-year-old Jay Ajayi atop the list as the second year player looked to become a featured back in the NFL.

Behind Ajayi was Kenyan Drake, a third-round pick from Alabama this season. Drake is just 22-years-old heading into his rookie season for Miami.

While Foster is definitely the bigger name, Ajayi had a great college career and Drake has showed flashes of potential although he primarily served as a change-of-pace back for the Tide. Does the addition of Foster really help Miami, or does it put players like Ajayi and Drake in an odd spot?

Running backs have a very limited shelf life in the NFL. The Texans understood that and said thank you and best wishes to Arian Foster. The Dolphins don’t seem to get that as they under-utilized Miller for years in Miami and may be doing the same now with Ajayi.

must read: Houston Texans: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – Secondary

While all of us Texans fans wish the best to Foster, this signing seems to be more of a progress stopper than a good fit.