Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Texans made a couple of announcements yesterday as it pertains to the quarterback and running back positions. They announced that Ben Tate will be placed on the injured reserve due to his rib injuries, making way for Dennis Johnson to take the bulk of the carries on Sunday.
Tate has played pretty well in Arian Foster‘s absence, rushing 115 times for 453 yards (3.94 yards per carry) and 67 fantasy points in seven games. Johnson biggest game of 2013 came in Week 12 against the Jacksonville Jaguars where he had 13 carries for 74 yards.
This week, the Texans take a Denver Broncos team that has allowed 4.4 yards per carry over the last four games. They allow 18.6 fantasy points to opponent running backs. In a deep league, Johnson is a good play. He’s owned in 5.3 percent of ESPN.com leagues. So if you own Tate, drop him and pick up Johnson, who is a guaranteed starter this week.
The second was that Case Keenum will miss Week 16 with a thumb injury. Keenum has struggled over the last couple of weeks and has scored less than 10 points in four of the last five games. As a result, Matt Schaub gets his job back, for this week at least. The last time Schaub played in Denver he threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns.
The Broncos allow the ninth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, 17.2 points per game. He is a decent play in deep, two-quarterback leagues. He’s owned in 13 percent of leagues. While there may be better players available, Schaub has Andre Johnson at his disposal which no other quarterback does.
Bill Pivetz is fantasy football writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Mr_Piv1127.
