Reports that Houston signed Derrick Ward, recently cut by Tampa.
As someone who drafted Foster in the 4th round and is relying on him to start from day 1, I'm a little uneasy about this acquisition. I don't see Ward taking much away from Foster. But Ward was very good in NY behind a great OLine. No question he'll be able to perform better in Houston than in Tampa.
Hopefully Houston is just adding Ward as a backup in case of injury (which is likely with Slaton in the backfield).
bigh0rt wrote:With Ward looking so bad that Tampa cut him, I don't anticipate him eating into Foster's carries.
I'm guessing it had as much to do with the ridiculous salary he was making. They paid him a ton as a FA, so they probably were more than happy to dump that salary. I think this is a borderline RBBC situation suddenly again. Foster is the clear #1 fantasy option still, but I think his value definitely takes a hit.
Cuffs wrote:Reports that Houston signed Derrick Ward, recently cut by Tampa.
As someone who drafted Foster in the 4th round and is relying on him to start from day 1, I'm a little uneasy about this acquisition. I don't see Ward taking much away from Foster. But Ward was very good in NY behind a great OLine. No question he'll be able to perform better in Houston than in Tampa.
Hopefully Houston is just adding Ward as a backup in case of injury (which is likely with Slaton in the backfield).
Kubiak seems to have a thing for RBBC's....He is trying his best to make all fantasy owners hate him nearly Shanahann-esque...the RB barrage in HOU over the past few months have included Ben Tate, Arian Foster, Steve Slaton, Derrick Ward, Jerimiah Johnson....it almost seems like Kubiak refuses to have one go-to running back....hes a headache for all Foster owners..
Ward is a warm body, nothing more IMO, he got called out for being fat for the love of god, and prior to the year he had w/ NYG - he really was nothing special...
Looks to me like Houston is going into the season w/ 3 actice RB's & 2 FB's...
Foster, Slaton (toe), Ward (fatness), Corcoran (FB, Rookie), Leach (FB - didn't have a carry in 09)
The immediate impact of this is "0", however, I do agree that Kubiak can be a pain in the ass, if Foster gets in the doghouse, I guess it's something to worry about, and if you're feeling ballsy, maybe Foster has a big start of the season & ups his already high value...
IMO, a lead back in an explosive offense is a high value commodity in ff nowadays - that's still the way I view Foster, regardless of after camp FA adds.
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The 131/101/79/54 split between Slaton, Moats, Brown and Foster last year makes me question the whole idea of Foster as a "lead back." I think Foster definitely gets more carries than Slaton last year, as I don't anticipate Foster to have the same ball security problems as Slaton, but I'm not sure there are 200 carries for Foster in that offense.
I wouldn't read too much into the Ward signing. The Texans have finally found their guy at RB if he can just stay healthy. Ward was a poor choice but the Texans had no choice but to sign someone with everyone behind Foster hurting and Chris Henry proving completely useless.
I dont think its a complete "non-issue", thats awfully nieve of anyone to say it means absolutely nothing.... But do I think hes gonna ruin Arian Fosters "Breakout Campaign"? Nah, not at all... At worst, hell be what McGahee was to Ray Rice... thats at Worst! He should help out Foster, providing some relief and allowing Foster to rest up and POUND Defenses in the 4th Qrtr!!!!
We all speculate - I get that. The difference is some of us speculate understanding we could be completely wrong. The confidence with which some people here speculate amazes me.
How can anyone know for sure how much work the coaching staff is planning on giving Foster? Some teams just RBBC regardless of how much better one back is over another (see KC, Cleveland, Oakland). Other teams stick with one back no matter how much he sucks (see Green Bay, Indianapolis). There are 8000 posts on here discussing why that is, but that isn't important right now - the fact is, some teams "workhorse" and some teams don't, and it isn't always based on talent or even productivity.
So how some people who are absolutely confident that Foster is going to get that workhorse role is beyond my comprehension. Why people think Ward is a terrible back and not a threat is beyond my comprehension.
Only 2 years ago, Ward averaged 5.6 ypc, ran for 1000+ and caught 40 passes - AS A BACKUP to Brandon Jacobs and while beating out the new fantasy football love interest, Ahmad Bradshaw, to do it. Tampa signed him to a 4 year, 17 million dollar deal only to realize that their offense as a whole sucks and really any RB aside from Barry Sanders or Chris Johnson will have the same effectiveness facing 9 in the box all the time. Why spend 17 mil on a guy to do that?
He was cut for money - not talent. Now, I'm not putting on my "Derrick Ward is the awesomest!" t-shirt here. I'm just pointing out how short people's memories are. Ward was supposed to be a top 15 RB last year, but his lack of success was hidden in the shadows of the host of 1st round RBs who let down their fantasy teams.
So how can any of you, one season removed from that, tell with so much certainty that a guy who has done far less that what Ward did in New York is going to keep that same player sitting on the bench?
Could it happen? Sure! But the risk of an RBBC situation should not be shrugged off as fear mongering by those lunatics at the Cafe.
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by Cuffs » Fri Sep 03, 2010 8:52 pm 
