Ben Tate Injury: Why Arian Foster is Now a Fantasy Football Must-Start

Houston Texans running back Ben Tate injured his groin Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which kept him out of the rest of game and likely into the future. The Texans are hurting at running back, with Tate's injury adding to Arian Foster's still recovering hamstring and Derrick Ward's sprained ankle.

What does it all mean in a fantasy sense?

Arian Foster is back to being a must-start every week. 

Foster carried the ball 30 times for 155 yards in the Texans' 17-10 win over the Steelers, and he'll be seeing a heavy workload for the foreseeable future with Houston's running back stable as thin as it is now. 

It was somewhat surprising to see Foster get such a big workload in just his first game back from injuring his hamstring. He showed plenty of burst, and he didn't have the kind of hesitation I thought he could potentially have after missing most of the first four weeks. 

Tate, who missed all of his rookie season with an injury, filled in well for Foster during his absence. Tate rushed for over 80 yards in each of the Texans' first three games, including 100-yard efforts versus Miami and Indianapolis. 

With Tate likely shelved for at least next week, 30 carries a game isn't out of the question for Foster.

And as we saw last season, when Foster gets the touches, he produces. The NFL's rushing champion from a year ago carried the ball 327 times for 1,616 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2011. That made Foster a high fantasy draft pick before this season, and owners were obviously concerned when Foster hurt his hamstring in the preseason then reinjured it against the Dolphins. 

Now, all those owners shouldn't hesitate to reinsert their top draft pick into the starting lineup for good. Tate's injury ensures that he'll be seeing plenty of ball over the next weeks.