Fantasy Football 2014: Houston Texans RB Rundown

If you’re the seventh pick in your fantasy football draft, you could be in a tricky spot.  Most of the analysts agree that the top six running backs are pretty solid options with few question marks who should be able to produce good numbers barring injury.  When you get to the seventh RB off the board, though, is where things get risky and picks get a little less locked-in.  If I was in that spot, I’d look at the Texans RB situation and get ready to take the plunge.

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Over the past few seasons, Houston has had one of the best rushing attacks in the league, but with a new head coach some of that could change. Coach Bill O’Brien is known as a quarterback guy, but the quarterback situation isn’t the best in Houston which could force him to rely heavily on the running game. Even with a new offense in place, I think they’ll have to rely on the rushing game making their backs fantasy relevant.

While they can be more difficult, the upside of picks at the back end of the first round is that they could ultimately be better values and you can “cover” your bets a little easier since you have a higher second round pick.

The Texans top rusher, Arian Foster, has perennially been a first round pick and even was high in the first round before a couple of injuries have slowed him down.  If he’s healthy and a top 5 back, then you’ve gotten better value late in the first round, but there is considerably more risk with picking Foster than one of the top six options.  Still, I think he’s best in the third tier based on his upside.

Since you’ll definitely want to “handcuff” Foster, you’ll need to know his backup and make sure to get the player who would fill in if he went down with an injury.  In case you’re a fantasy football rookie or unfamiliar with the term, “handcuffing” is taking a star’s backup as an insurance pick so that if your starter is unable to play you have the option whose value gets the biggest boost from the opportunity.

As we continue our RB rundowns, here’s my quick take on the Texans’ backfield options from a fantasy football perspective headed into the 2014 season. The ranking included next to the player is based on my overall RB rankings which should give you a good idea of where I think they should slot in on your roster