Arian Foster has been a fantasy football stud for five years now. He has handled over 260 carries in four out of his six carries. However, he hasn’t played a full season since he ran the ball 351 times in 2012. Arian Foster barely made it to 13 games last year and has a long history of hamstring problems that seem to pop up every year. Running backs in the NFL simply can’t handle that heavy workload for very many seasons but it does not look to stop Bill O’Brien from running Arian Foster into the ground.
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Yesterday, a reporter asked Bill O’Brien what fantasy football fans can expect from Arian Foster in 2015. His response:
"Well, we have a very good running back, so you can rest assured that as long as he’s healthy and he’s out there, we will run the ball. I can tell you that. That’s one thing we will do."
That silences the talk of Arian Foster losing carries this year in an attempt to keep him healthy. This is directly inline with what the Texans have done in the draft and in free agency in the last two seasons. In the 2014 draft, the Texans were expected to take an elite running back early but decided to wait until the sixth round to take the LSU backup running back. Fast forwarding to this offseason, the Texans only added ex-Eagles third string running back Chris Polk in free agency. The Texans also passed up on multiple NFL talented prospects in this year’s draft.
With such a long history of injuries, I am not sure why the Texans wouldn’t want the safety net of a solid backup running back. He would have a much better chance at staying healthy all year long if he averaged 15-17 carries per game instead of being in the 20s but needs an effective runner behind him to keep the offense moving. For now, fantasy owners can look forward to another season of greatness and a heavy workload.