Heading into this draft, the Houston Texans were the team I expected to produce a big fantasy running back. They only had worn-out Ahman Green and a guy the Titans cut about seven times in Chris Brown. A first-round running back should be able to easily take over the starting RB role and provide a great fantasy starter.
But the Texans didn’t take a running back in the first round. How about the second round? No? Come on guys, help me out here! Finally, in the third round, the Texans decided to take Steve Slaton (89th overall), a guy who had been projected as a first-rounder in early season mock drafts.
This brings up two questions:.
Why did the Texans wait to take a running back? The spine-chilling answer is that they seem to be happy with some combination of Ahman Green and Chris Brown at the position. This won’t do either the Texans or fantasy owners any good this year, but that’s the way the Texans want to go. Taking Slaton won’t change that, which brings us to the second question…
Why did Slaton drop so far in the draft? Despite putting up great numbers in college, Slaton became increasingly seen a one-dimensional speed back that could only run outside. If you were looking for a powerhouse to bang between the tackles, the 5’9", 197 lb Slaton was not your guy – according to the scouts. Teams seemed to buy off on that analysis, as Slaton tumbled into the third round.
For fantasy purposes, this leaves us with the unreliable Ahman Green, the unreliable Chris Brown and the unknown Steve Slaton at running back. I would imagine that Green will get the majority of carries this year, with Brown getting a few each quarter and Slaton trying to get playing time. When (not if) Green gets hurt, then it will probably come down to a split between Brown and Slaton. There’s the possibility that Slaton would take over as the starter in the event of a Green injury (or even if Green is healthy) but I wouldn’t draft Slaton based on that.
I thought Houston would be one of the best places for fantasy running backs and now it’s looking like one of the worst. Ugh.
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