Houston Texans' Offensive Machine Would Barely Feel Loss of Arian Foster

Arian Foster's hamstring injury appears to be a recurring problem for the Houston Texans rushing leader from last year.

The injury first occurred during training camp and was aggravated once again during the first quarter of the Texans' game with the San Francisco 49ers.

Gary Kubiak believes the injury is only day-to-day but it is a worrying sign from the third year pro. Foster took a lot of punishment during his first full season as a starter and his body isn't built to sustain that kind of workload throughout the coming season.

While losing Foster would come as a huge blow to the team, they did already anticipate this during the offseason.

This is something the Texans could have easily seen coming, as I did a few months ago.

The undrafted running back out of Tennessee didn't feature at all during his rookie season but led the league in rushing last year after getting into better shape. While Foster may have gained more explosion and a greater physical presence with the football in his hands, his slight frame cannot ease any durability concerns.

This is a concern that the Texans caught onto early as they looked to re-sign Derrick Ward in the offseason.

Re-signing Ward may not seem like a big deal, but it was considering that the team already had Ben Tate returning from injury as well as former starter Steve Slaton on the roster. Instead of retaining a vital piece in Vonta Leach to allow Foster to flourish once again the Texans sacrificed Leach to take out an insurance policy on Foster.

Leach was allowed to leave and was replaced by the cheaper—but almost as effective—Lawrence Vickers. Vickers should be able to blow open holes for whoever is running behind him.

With Derrick Ward, Steve Slaton and Ben Tate all vying to take carries from Foster in the first place, this injury shouldn't be a problem to the team at all.

However what makes it even less of a blow is the emergence of second year player Chris Ogbonnaya. Ogbonnaya was a St. Louis Ram last year but didn't feature for the team. He came over to the Texans and has impressed through preseason.

Despite averaging only 2.2 yards per carry in his first preseason game, Ogbonnaya has come back with two strong performances against the Saints and 49ers. While he won't be a breakout player like Foster was last year he does provide quality depth and will be battling Steve Slaton for the fourth running back spot on the roster.

With the proven commodity in Derrick Ward, the Texans will have no issue replacing Foster as the bell cow to run behind the best run blocking line in the league. While Ben Tate's electrifying play could see him become the starter or just be a great complement to Ward.

Steve Slaton may have been lost in the wilderness as of late but his effectiveness as a third down back should he be needed offers the team a chance to soften the loss of Foster's receiving ability.

Foster's injury is only day-to-day but should it persist and affect his performances this season, the Texans are definitely built to cope. It's not like they didn't have one of the better offenses in the league before he arrived in Houston.

With Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson there will always be some consistency to the passing game while the return of Owen Daniels and re-signing of Jacoby Jones will have the offense firing on more than one cylinder.

A combination of Derrick Ward's grafting and Ben Tate's explosive running would likely be the best remedy to an injured Arian Foster, but right now that isn't even a concern for the team as they are hopeful that he will be fit by opening day.

There is no doubt that Foster is an incredibly talented football player, but there is also no doubting that he was in a system that allowed him to flourish and got the best out of its running backs. Even if that running back isn't Foster it doesn't mean that he can't replicate his impact or at least some of it.

It's not like Foster was a proven star at this time last year. In fact Foster benefited from the injury to Ben Tate and the inconsistencies of Steve Slaton to get more touches than any other back in football.

While many fantasy owners may be more than fretting at this news, the Houston Texans should have no major concerns about overcoming the loss of Foster.

The NFL is a league with great running back depth, the Houston Texans probably have the most depth of any potential 53-man roster.

Cian writes for Irish Central and Fantasy Football Life and also tweets about everything and anything.