Dog Day Questions Facing the Houston Texans: The Running Game

Today is officially the first day of summer. 

For those of you away from Houston, you may be surprised to know it's been at or near 100 degrees in Houston for a while now.  For those of you in Houston, you're fully aware of how sweltering it has been already.

It's official, folks, we are in the dog days of summer.  The temperatures are creeping higher and higher.  The NBA Finals are over.  The baseball season is in full swing. Yawn.

All that means we are getting closer to the 2010 NFL season.  I, for one, can't wait for the next chapter in Houston Texans' history.

The Texans have been a trendy pick to make the playoffs for a few years now.  Are they there yet?  Are the Texans still missing a few pieces? 

These are the general, the broad stroke, the big picture questions facing the team.  In order to answer those bigger questions, we must examine a few smaller questions first. 

I will address each of these questions over the next few weeks building up to training camp.  Let's start with the running game.

First, are the Texans going to be able to run the ball in 2010?  I maintain that the running game will be significantly better than 2009 for a variety of reasons.

Perhaps the biggest reason the Texans will be better is the improved health of Steve Slaton.

Slaton had significant nerve damage last season and this had a big impact on his ability to hang onto the ball.  Clearly, something was wrong, as Slaton seemingly fumbled every other time he touched the ball. 

After his surgery, Slaton was able to feel an improvement almost immediately.  I'm not a doctor, but I spoke with more than one about this development.  Immediate improvement is a great sign, I was told. 

Not only does that show that the surgery was a success, but it shows there was a problem that surgery has seemingly addressed.

Perhaps Slaton will not be able to return to his 2008 form, when he rushed for more than 1,280 yards, but it's likely he will bounce back from his ugly 2009 season.

What will Slaton's role be on the 2010 Texans? 

To address that, let's first look at the new back on the team. 

Auburn's Ben Tate was drafted in the second round.  He's a different kind of back than Steve Slaton.  Tate measures at 5'11" and over 220 lbs. 

While Tate does have good speed and quickness, he's a between-the-tackles back.  Scouts say that Tate runs with good pad level and is a physical back. 

What does that mean?

It means the Texans won't be passing on third and one all that often. 

It means that there won't be any debacles like Chris Brown (I promise I won't mention his name ever again—unless it's in mockery) fumbling into the endzone. 

It means the Texans might finally have their bell cow running back.

Sure, Arian Foster is listed atop the depth chart right now, but I can't imagine the Texans used the 58th pick in the draft to add a backup running back.  The starting gig is Tate's to lose.

This all brings us back to Steve Slaton's role. 

I don't think many would argue Slaton is best suited for plays in space.  Getting him involved in the passing game or calling for runs on the boundary are more geared to Slaton's talents than running up the middle behind the offensive line. 

Slaton can help the team by making plays in space and can also avoid some of the punishing hits by not being forced to run the ball into the middle of the defense 200 times per season.

Tate can help the team by earning tough yards and by carrying the ball in the traditional running game.

With Slaton tabbed as the third down back and Tate as the starting back, the Texans have a good and young tandem to open the season on their quest to make the playoffs.

If we can focus on the big picture again, adding a good running game will help the Texans open up the play action passing game that is the staple of Coach Gary Kubiak's pass attack.  Down-hill, one-cut running and play action passing.

Can you imagine if the Texans' opponents had to respect the running game?  How is anyone going to play the run and cover passing game weapons such as All-World receiver Andre Johnson and mortals such as tight end Owen Daniels (more on him later this summer), Kevin Walter, and Jacoby Jones?

That sounds like a question a playoff opponent will struggle to answer.