Wow, so 1 year later and Steve Slaton is garbage?

[Sting129]

Slaton can't be seriously done can he? I know he had fumble problems, but so did Tiki Barber.

Seems like Slaton is going to be a huge sleeper this year.

[dgan]

Well, Tate possibly being out the rest of the year sure increases Slaton's value. But IMO, he still plays second fiddle to Foster - both guys will split time, and neither will play a major FFL role.

[Free Bagel]

There were plenty of people who didn't think Slaton was very good even prior to last year.

The Tate injury gives Slaton one last hope. Problem is, he was never really an elite talent to begin with, and that makes the fumbling issue (and he's already fumbled again this preseason) much less forgivable.

[Sting129]

There were plenty of people who didn't think Slaton was very good even prior to last year.

The Tate injury gives Slaton one last hope. Problem is, he was never really an elite talent to begin with, and that makes the fumbling issue (and he's already fumbled again this preseason) much less forgivable.

How do you explain his fantastic rookie season then?

[LS2throwed]

There were plenty of people who didn't think Slaton was very good even prior to last year.

The Tate injury gives Slaton one last hope. Problem is, he was never really an elite talent to begin with, and that makes the fumbling issue (and he's already fumbled again this preseason) much less forgivable.

How do you explain his fantastic rookie season then?

How do you explain Braylon Edwards scoring 16 TD's a few seasons ago? There are tons of flashes in the pans who have 1 big season then never even come close to it again. Slaton got that many carries by default, if you read between the lines that season and the off-season after all Kubiak talked about was trying to find a bigger back, not wanting to give Slaton that many carries or over work him, trying to limit his touches. There was little chance he got anywhere near that many touches again unless everyone got hurt again like they did his rookie season.


Slaton isn't without talent, but looking at his injuries he's suffered, and the fumbling issues, Kubiak isn't even going to give him the opportunity to be the workhorse again. Even last year with his carries split in half he only averaged 3.3 ypc and nothing changed.


Again there are alot of RB's who have big seasons, especially as a rookie then end up doing nothing at all after. I don't expect him to post any type of season even close to that again, Foster is the work horse back this year and he'll dominate the touches unless something changes.

[mattb47]

Yea...I was pretty down on Slaton last year even and couldn't really believe how high people were valuing and drafting him. I don't think he was ever truly that good and it's not uncommon to see guys put up numbers for a big season and never come close to repeating again. I don't think he sees the field a whole lot except as a change of pace back this season unless Foster gets hurt or gets a case of fumbleitis like Slaton.

Fumbling is just one of those things that will lose a coach's trust faster than anything else...the fact that he fumbled at the goal line in their first pre-season game just confirms for the coaching staff that he can't be trusted down there.

[Munboy]

With Ben Tate facing ankle surgery, who's going to push Slaton for carries?

[mattb47]

Well...it's Slaton that's going to be trying to push Foster for carries...I didn't think Tate was really going to factor in much this year anyway personally so I don't know that it really changes anything there except the amount of confidence I now have in Foster.

[moochman]

Well...it's Slaton that's going to be trying to push Foster for carries...I didn't think Tate was really going to factor in much this year anyway personally so I don't know that it really changes anything there except the amount of confidence I now have in Foster.

You have to have the confidence of the coaching staff, and nothing will lose them confidence more than being small and fumbling the ball.
Barry Sanders fumbles the ball like Slaton and we may not know who he was, heck his idiot head coach took goal line carries away from him because of his size, despite his strength.

[StudentOfTheGame]

Kubiak is under enormous pressure to win this season. He's going to go with the hot hand, and thats Foster at the moment. Coaches simply can not give the back who is putting it on the ground as much as slaton is. SS will catch a few passes out of the backfield, but Foster is clearly the only Texan RB who has significant fantasy value right now.