Fantasy Football: Texans RBs' Value Dipping

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Going into week nine of the NFL season, there are plenty of things to talk about. Let’s focus on the Houston Texans and their running game at the moment. When looking at their current situation from a fantasy perspective, owners of both Arian Foster and Ben Tate could be a bit worried.

Foster irritated a hamstring injury last week that had been bothering him in practice and wound up only rushing the ball four times before leaving. Tate, on the other hand, currently has four broken ribs but says he expects to play against the Indianapolis Colts in week nine.

Thankfully, the Texans are on a bye this week and both guys have a chance to heal up before facing Indianapolis. But, if I’m an owner of either running back I am monitoring them closely. If Foster’s hamstring injury lingers at all, this could be a problem for fantasy owners.

Tate’s current state could be compromised if he’s not too careful. Broken ribs are nothing to mess around with. If I’m a Tate owner, I might even consider trading him right now if I could find a deal for him.

Besides injury, the Texans’ passing game isn’t completely trustworthy as Case Keenum just made his first start and there will without a doubt be growing pains in this process if he is to continue on as the starter. Unfortunately for Texans fans, that won’t be happening, at least for now. Matt Schaub looks like he’ll be starting instead of Keenum if he’s healthy.

The passing game could struggle, though, as it has. If that’s the case, the run game won’t be able to flourish as much as it potentially could with two less-than-100 percent healthy running backs.

With this said I would begin fielding trades for either guy if the deal was right. Obviously, you will want to starting-caliber players for Foster. If he gets healthy, he’ll still be a big time force. Tate is the more expendable back, although he possesses value if at full strength.

Ryan Heckman is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmheckman, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.