I have Slaton going this week and all Ive been hearing from fantasy "gurus" is that Slaton is a bad start against a stout Miami Rush Def...I beg to differ. Although I will not say that Miami is a below average rush DEF, who have they really played anyway? Let's anaylze...
Week 1 vs. Jets...They get romped by Thomas Jones, 101 yds and a TD. Honestly what does this say, this is T.J's only good game, but it's week 1 so it can be overlooked...consider it an outlier in Miamis favor...
Week 2 vs. ARI...Arizona didnt have to run with Fitz and Boldin combining for 293 yards and 3 TDS...they did run though with the duo of Edge and Hightower who combined for 79 yards and a TD, not bad, not bad
Week 3 vs. NE...Yesssss, the epitomey of a RBBC...the unhealthy L. Jordan and unspectacular Sammy Morris combined for 49 yards on 15 carries. I don't care for this as no NE RB will hold fantasy value this year anway. Miami wouldn't have to do much to stop this deo...
Week 4 vs. BYE
Week 5 vs SD...L.T has said himself that he is nowhere near 100%. All I hear is how Miami stopped LT. L.T's toe stopped L.T. He went 12 for 35, Sproles finishing 6 for 24.
Conclusion? I'm obviously starting Slaton, I cant force you to, but what can you expect? I'm expecting something around 80 yards rushing and 20 yards recieving and a TD either way. I'm assuming HOU will prioritize throwing over running, good news is Slaton can be involved in both.
Good points. I'll be starting Slaton too. And like you said, he is very versatile, he can catch a lot of balls out of the backfield. I believe he caught 8 passes one week?
Miami controlled TOP vs NE and SD, both better defenses than HOU. Safe bet that Ronnie Brown, who is avg almost 6ypc in the past 2 weeks will have a field day with HOU def. Chad Pennington has also been dead accurate. Less INC passes = less play stoppage = less total plays.
What is very obvious to me is that Miami will have the ball 6-12 min more than HOU.
This means Slaton will get around 15 carries in this game with maybe 2-4 rec (that's being generous given that Ahman Green was the primary ball carrier for the first half of last week and ran quite well). Slaton didn't really turn it around until late in the 3rd quarter, which to me was quite scary. He had 5 yards and 1 TD for a majority of the game.
That's how I saw the game unfold last week, and I don't feel safe playing him, esp as defenses start keying in on him. I think this is a good of week as any for Slaton to be total dud. His schedule will get easier next week. One RB I'd play over Slaton is Willis McGahee, to give you an idea of where I see Slaton in this week's rankings.
I am starting Slaton this week and I am very nervous. Like someone said, he had 5 or 6 yards and got that TD on the goal line. If they guys keep producing though, he has to be in my line up until he doesn't show he can do it anymore.
Slaton should see a lot more carries that A. Green this week. Think about it, if the run game gets shut down in the first half, and the Texans resort to passing the ball. Which RB do you want coming out of the backfield for a few receptions?
A busted up A. Green that has 4 rec for 3 yrds? or A play making S. Slaton that has 16 rec for 100 yrds?
If MIA shuts down the run, which they might do, the Texans will go pass happy, and Slaton should receive the bulk of the work.
One game against Pittsburgh aside, Green is a pretty good pass catcher as well. If he's healthy, especially given Slaton's struggles as a pass protector, there is no reason why Ahman shouldn't factor into Houston's passing game, too.
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by InsertNameHere » Fri Oct 10, 2008 11:30 am 
