Leading up to the NFL season, we here at Last Word on Sports will be offering you, the reader, fantasy profiles on many different NFL athletes to try and help make your decisions easier when the time comes for your fantasy football league draft.
So let’s begin with the unanimous number one overall fantasy pick in almost all leagues, Arian “The Barbarian” Foster.
Half-Back
Born August 24, 1986 – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Height 6.1 – Weight 229
|
Previous Three Years |
Rushing |
Receiving |
|||||||||
|
Season |
Team |
GP |
Att |
Yds |
Avg |
Yds/G |
TD |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TD |
|
2009 |
HOU |
8 |
54 |
257 |
4.8 |
42.8 |
3 |
8 |
93 |
11.6 |
0 |
|
2010 |
HOU |
16 |
327 |
1,616 |
4.9 |
101.0 |
16 |
66 |
604 |
9.2 |
2 |
|
2011 |
HOU |
13 |
278 |
1,224 |
4.4 |
94.2 |
10 |
53 |
617 |
11.6 |
2 |
|
Total |
37 |
659 |
3,097 |
4.7 |
88.5 |
29 |
127 |
1,317 |
10.3 |
4 |
|
Foster came into the league as an undrafted free agent when the Houston Texans signed him to a contract on May 1st, 2009. He was later released, but then signed back onto their practice squad and officially made his debut on November 23 of that year. But it was not until the beginning of 2010 when fans began to see Foster’s potential; he replaced Steve Slaton in the opening game against the Indianapolis Colts and went on to run for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns – jaw-dropping numbers to say the least, especially in fantasy.
Many people say that fantasy football is based purely on luck, and while that may be true, to win your league you must place yourself in the best position to be as lucky as possible. A great way to begin your league is drafting Arian Foster with the first pick of the draft. Not only does Foster possess the many skills that a three-down running back needs, he also runs behind a dominant O-Line that can open up holes for him to run through. Also, he’s been placed on a heavy run offense and the more opportunities a running back receives, the more success he can achieve.
Foster, with all of his pros, does have a few cons: injury and Ben Tate. Last year, Foster started the year on the bench due to a hamstring injury that he obtained during the preseason. The injury lingered into the third regular season game causing Foster to miss two of them. Fortunately, Foster was able to play the rest of the year and put up stats that were similar to his all-pro 2010. As long as Foster can stay away from the injury bug, he is bound to have another stellar year. Just in case, many fantasy owners may want to draft his back-up, Ben Tate, in order to be safe and secure all year long.
If Foster can remain healthy, I can see him running for about 1,400-1,500 yards, while picking up 55-60 receptions and 600-650 yards over the air. Add these stats with about 14-16 total touchdowns and you can see why Arian Foster should be your number one overall fantasy pick when draft day comes.
… and that is the last word.
