It's interesting to see what the Houston Texans have done this offseason. They added an under-the-radar fullback in the form of Greg Jones from the division-rival Jacksonville Jaguars.
This didn't get a ton of play because most of the media focused on Houston's signing of Ed Reed, but Jones will be equally as important to its success on the field. According to Pro Football Focus, Jones ranked third among all fullbacks in blocking last season. He also ranked third in that category in 2011 and first overall back in 2010. Needless to say, the former Florida State standout is going to help Arian Foster a great deal on the ground.
It's not a coincidence that Maurice Jones-Drew led the NFL in rushing in his last full season (2011) and racked up a total of 5,386 yards from 2009-2011.
As much as Jones' exit will hurt Jacksonville, it is definitely going to help Foster.
Then news broke over the weekend that Houston was seriously considering bringing in Vonta Leach, who was just released by the defending Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens. In a league that is going away from the fullback, it's interesting to see Houston kick the tires on bringing in two of the best the NFL has to offer.
Leach was the best blocking fullback in the NFL this past season, and it wasn't even close. While he won't handle the rock as much as Jones, his presence helped turn Ray Rice into one of the most successful running backs in the entire league.
Overall, Leach has ranked No. 1 among fullbacks in blocking over the past two seasons.
Add him and Jones to the mix and all the markers are there for Foster to have a dominating fantasy season. For those of us who are not too high on the talented running back, this new situation forces us to rethink our skepticism.
It's well warranted skepticism too. After all, Foster has touched the ball 1,124 times over the past three seasons. To compare for a second, Adrian Peterson has just 933 touches over the same span. This seems to indicate that Foster, who will turn 27 early in the 2013 season, is much "older" than his age suggests.
Despite being among the most successful fantasy running backs since he broke on to the scene back in 2010, Foster struggled down the stretch last season. From weeks 13-16 of the 2013 season, Foster averaged 66 yards per game and just 3.8 yards per rush. For someone that fantasy owners select within the top five in most redraft's, that's not getting it done at the most important time.
To contrast for a second......
Needless to say, Foster's performance towards the latter part of the fantasy season really did impact those who owned him. In many cases, he was the difference between winning and losing in specific leagues.
Even as the No. 1 overall fantasy running back last season, many owners came away bitter about how Foster ended the year. A lot of that had to do with the ridiculous amount of touches he had throughout the duration the season.
By possibly adding two of the best blocking fullbacks in the NFL and a solid young wide receiver to go with Andre Johnson in the form of DeAndre Hopkins, we can expect Foster's carries to go down, but his production to go up.
Does this make him the third-best fantasy option behind Adrian Peterson and Doug Martin? I am not ready to go that far. I will say that my previous skepticism about Foster's possible 2013 fantasy output may have been tamed by recent events.
Still, buyer beware.