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Arian Foster out week three, week four in jeopardy?

By Keegan Matheson

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Texans running back Arian Foster will have his return delayed at least one more week, according to a tweet this afternoon from Drew Dougherty. “I don’t think Arian will play this week,” coach Bill O’Brien is quoted as saying, as the organization continues to wait for Arian Foster to return to 100% health despite their struggles on the ground.

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For Fosters’s fantasy owners, this is more of a mild inconvenience than reason for worry. Many were fortunate enough to grab Foster in the middle rounds of their drafts before his recovery timeline accelerated from the initial outlook of a mid-season return. Where this gets interesting, though, is when we consider the Texans schedule in weeks four and five.


Following an early afternoon start in Atlanta on Sunday, October 4th, the Texans make the trip home to host the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football on the 8th. Rapoport’s tweet above requires a little clarification, as it is not suggesting that Foster will be out of action for both games, just that his chances of appearing in back-to-back games so quickly are limited.

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Especially considering the long history of Foster and soft tissue injuries, the Texans my be cautious in throwing him into the fire at such an inopportune time, regardless of how scaled back his workload would be. In that situation, would it not make more sense to hold him out until week five?

Doing so would assure that Foster is fully recovered and give him 10 days of rest following his first live game action ahead of their week six matchup at the Jacksonville Jaguars. Houston draws the Dolphins and Titans in the weeks following, so there’s a real chance that Foster can hit the ground running.

This will also be the time where Foster’s owners will begin to field trade offers on the star running back. Assuming his owners were able to secure his services at a quality value, they may have the RB1/2 talent ahead of Foster to allow them some flexibility with a trade for a top-end WR1.

My advice for owners in this situation would be to float the potential trade to your league mates, especially those who have been scorned by slow starts from a high pick like C.J. Anderson or DeMarco Murray. If you catch an overzealous owner ready to offer a monster package, fantastic. If not, starting Arian Foster is hardly a tragic result. You may just need a little more patience.

Next: James Starks a problematic fantasy football addition

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