Fantasy Football Sleeper Spotlight: Arian Foster

A typical fantasy football league consists of 12 teams, nine starters (QB, two RBs, three WRs, TE, K, D), and anywhere from five to seven bench players. If you go with the latter bench allotment, you’re looking at 16 roster spots or 192 draft picks. By that definition, any sleeper should have an average draft position of about 180 or lower.

Houston RB Arian Foster is going with the 182nd pick according to Mock Draft Central. That is good for the 56th RB selected, meaning he’d be a RB4 or RB5 in 12 team fantasy leagues. He is going behind the likes of LenDale White, Larry Johnson, Tashard Choice, and Glen Coffee to name a few. LenDale doesn’t even have a gig. Foster is even behind teammates Ben Tate (26th RB, 58 overall) and Steve Slaton (39, 95).

The problem is, nobody informed Texans Coach Gary Kubiak. He called Foster “mature beyond his years,” and hinted that Foster could have a firm grip on the top stop in Houston’s depth chart. Obviously he would split carries with Slaton and Tate, but clearly Foster should be going ahead of unsigned free agents, washed up backup RBs, and backup RBs that don’t figure to have many carries.

It’s not like Foster struggled last year. He ran for 257 yards on 54 carries (4.8 ypc) for three TDs, and he added eight catches for 93 yards. He did this in very limited playing time. When he got his chance in Weeks 16 and 17, he combined for 242 total yards (216 rushing) and three TDs. His ypc in those two games was 5.5.

The second-year back isn’t taking the competition lightly. He is quoted as saying “I wasn’t up at 5:30 (a.m.) this offseason for nothing, so my mentality isn’t, ‘This spot is mine.’ My mentality is, ‘This spot is going to get taken. I am going to take it.’”

We’ll have to see how things play out during the next few weeks, but with quotes like that from Foster and Kubiak, I am willing to move Kubiak up my draft board. I would take him as a low-end RB3 or high-end RB4 if he continues to keep Slaton and Tate at bay. Click to see my update 2010 fantasy RB rankings .

What are your thoughts on Arian Foster?