Running back Arian Foster’s injury during Tuesday’s training camp practice didn’t just leave a hole on the Houston Texans roster or your upcoming fantasy football draft chart, it could give an opportunity to a veteran free agent running back still looking to play on in the NFL.
The details of Foster’s injury have just gotten worse as the day wore on. During practice he went down with a groin injury that it turned out is severe enough that it will require surgery to repair.
https://twitter.com/JaysonBraddock/status/628616222867853314
The fact that the Texans came into the season with no real back-up plan for Foster was silly to begin with. He last started all 16 games in 2012 and really only played a full season twice. Last year’s 13 games was still good enough for 1,246 yards and eight touchdowns as the Texans finished 9-7.
The last player Texans offense could afford to lose 4 extended period was Foster. This is a HUGE loss.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) August 4, 2015
Behind Foster on the current depth chart, the Texans have second-year player Alfred Blue, a sixth-round draft pick in 2014. Blue wasn’t terrible last season, gaining 528 yards and scoring a couple of touchdowns, but he only averaged 3.1 yards per carry, so Houston can’t feel comfortable with that.
After Blue the Texans have a couple of bubble guys. Third-year Jonathan Grimes carried the ball 39 times for a 3.9 yards per carry average. Seventh-round pick Kenny Hilliard, out of LSU, is currently No. 3 on the depth chart and was never a starter in college, but that could have a lot more to do with LSU’s loaded roster than his talent. At 6-0, 232 pounds, he has the size needed to be a bruiser in the NFL and his 5.2 yards per carry average in college isn’t too bad and neither is his ability to punch the ball into the end zone in short yardage. Hilliard scored 27 touchdowns in his four seasons with the Tigers.
In spite of how intriguing Hilliard will be in camp, the Texans will likely be looking at bringing in a proven free agent to work into the rotation and there are some interesting options out there.
The best, if most controversial guy available is Ray Rice, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens and current World Heavyweight Elevator Boxing Champion.
Ray Rice tells ESPN he understands why some people will never forgive him http://t.co/NTcsUl0GWk pic.twitter.com/1ON7d611xR
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) August 4, 2015
Rice was a tremendous weapon for the Ravens, not only in the run game, but in the passing game as well and there’s no question that the Texans could use his on-the-field talents. It’s just the question of all that off-the-field stuff that could cause problems in bringing Rice in. The HBO Hard Knocks cameras don’t make this choice any easier, but there are ways where it could work.
The first piece of good news on Rice is that a national anti-violence organization, A Call to Men, are actually in his corner. Last week the two co-founders of the group, Tony Porter and Ted Bunch, announced that they had been working with Rice and believe he deserves another chance in the NFL.
“We have been around a lot of abusive men, but our experience with Ray has been tremendously positive,” Porter told ESPN. “We feel strongly about him having the opportunity of having a second chance. He’s deserving of it.”
This offseason Rice, in an interview with New York Magazine, said he’s a different man than the one that punched his then-fiance Janay in an elevator. She still married him a few months later.
While Rice is the safest bet talent-wise, the public perception problem in signing him might be too much for the team to take on. There are plenty of other options that don’t come with that problem, but with their own unique issues that have kept them free agents up until now.
The best of that bunch? Former Tennessee Titans and New York Jets RB Chris Johnson. Johnson’s issue isn’t money, talent or attitude-related. His problem is that he’s still recovering from a drive-by shooting. And while the injury wasn’t life-threatening or in his legs, who knows what shape he’ll be in right now?
Oh boy. Calling Mr. Johnson, Mr. Chris Johnson (or Steven Jackson) … https://t.co/wFPZgMlp5f
— Michael Fabiano (@Michael_Fabiano) August 4, 2015
Former St. Louis Rams and Atlanta Falcons running back Steven Jackson is still out there and would be ready to start day one for the Texans, but the question with him is will he be ready to start day two? Injuries have limited Jackson for the last half-decade and no one knows how many games you’ll get out of him in a season.
The easiest call for the Texans is just to bring back Ben Tate, a player they know and played well for them with Foster for the first three seasons of his career. Former New Orleans Saints back Pierre Thomas is another good option, along with former New York Jets back Shonn Greene.
What they probably won’t do is work a trade, even though the Seattle Seahawks are three-deep with Christine Michael and Robert Turbin. That price would likely be too expensive and there’s no reason to pay it when there are so many free agent options available.
