John McClain Reporting Arian Foster to Start Week 4
Alex Dunlap, Rosterwatch.com 

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle tweeted Tuesday that Arian Foster should start in Week 4 against Pittsburgh.

“Arian Foster should start against Pittsburgh. Ben Tate will be the back up. When Derrick Ward is healthy, he’ll be third.”

He also said that former Texas Longhorn Chris Ogbonnaya would be the 4th running back, the Texans having waived former fantasy stud Steve Slaton earlier in the day. When John McClain talks (or tweets) about the Texans, we here at Rosterwatch listen.

If this news is indeed true, you can hear a collective sigh of semi-relief from Arian Foster owners. The fact is he has a hamstring injury and sometimes they linger. That’s a little bothersome. Ben Tate has averaged over 100 yards rushing over his first three games. Of course this is behind the most efficient rushing OL unit in the NFL, but still. That’s a damn good “back-up” that the Texans spent a second round pick on.

Ben Tate has been given an opportunity to show he belongs on the field, and has played well. In doing so, I believe that my preseason projections of around 22 touches for Arian Foster and 8 or so for Tate will now be shifted towards an average closer Arian 19 Tate 13 with Tate remaining involved in the screen game. I would target panicky Tate owners, or smart guys who think they are pulling one over on you; selling him for peanuts because Arian is back and starting.