Houston Texans: All-time leaders in rushing yards

Houston Texans all-time leader in rushing yards – No. 1: Arian Foster

6,472 Rushing Yards

How does someone as talented as Arian Foster slip through the cracks and not get drafted? Luckily, Houston saw something in the young man and signed him as an undrafted free agent after the 2009 NFL draft.

Mid-way through his rookie year, Foster was activated from the practice squad, and the rest is history. In his first full year, he led the league in rushing yards with 1,616 and in touchdowns with 16. He was fifth in the league with 1,244 yards in 2011, sixth in 2012 with 1,424, and then sixth again in 2014 with 1,246 yards.

After the 2012 season, Foster battled injuries for the rest of his career. He only played in 27 games over the next four seasons, and almost half of those (13) were in 2014.

Foster was also a productive receiver, catching 249 balls for the Texans and 14 touchdowns to go with his 54 rushing scores.

When healthy, Foster was a beast of a back, and he seldom fumbled. In 1703 touches in his Texans career, he only laid the ball on the ground 17 times.

Like Davis, he is another big what-if for the Texans. If he stays healthy a little longer, he probably pushes close to the 10,000-yard mark.

The Houston Texans haven’t had many great running backs yet, but they’ve had a couple who verged on greatness but were stopped by injuries more than opposing defenses. The Texans are still a young franchise, so there is plenty of time for their great running back to arrive.