“Houston, we have a problem”.

That’s something many fantasy owners were thinking last year as the Houston Texans #1 ranked passing game was complimented by a putrid 30th ranked rushing attack. A number of factors led to the ground game’s ineffectiveness, from injuries to underperformance. Gone are veterans Chris Brown and Ryan Moats. In are late season hero Arian Foster, and the 2nd round pick out of Auburn, Ben Tate. Also returning is 2008 rookie surprise, Steve Slaton.

Slaton’s breakthrough performance in 2008 made him one of the most coveted running backs in fantasy football last year. In anticipation of the increased workload, the Texans encouraged Slaton to beef up to 215 lbs last off-season. The added bulk decreased Slaton’s effectiveness by taking away his speed and quickness, and caused him to be caught in the backfield for a loss or no gain far too often. Slaton seemed to lose confidence, ran indecisively and fumbled 7 times before his season ended in week 12 with a stinger. This injury required surgery to fuse two vertebrae in his neck.

The news isn’t all bad for Slaton. He still managed to score 7 TD’s in his 11 games in 2009. All indications are that he is healthy and ready to go for training camp. He also is back down to his original playing weight of 200 lbs. With bigger backs on the roster to help with the carries, it is thought that he will be more effective with less carries and more catches out of the backfield.

One of the larger backs on the team is incumbent starter Arian Foster. Foster, an un-drafted free agent out of Tennessee, came out of nowhere to help end the 2009 NFL season with 216 rushing yards and 3 scores in Weeks 16 and 17 to nearly lead the Texans to the playoffs. Foster spent the first 9 games of last year on the practice squad, and did not get a carry until Week 13, certainly making the most of his opportunity. Foster averaged 4.8 YPC and was by far the best in the Houston backfield.

Foster doesn’t come without risks, he wasn’t drafted after being injured often in college, and had a disorderly conduct arrest. At Tennessee he also once refused to speak to the media, unless they spoke Pterodactyl. Considering the Texans struggles throughout the season with the running game, one has to wonder why Foster sat on the practice squad until so late in the season.

The type of back the Texans were searching for was a player who could combine speed, size, and toughness. Enter 2010’s 2nd round pick, Ben Tate out of Auburn. Tate had a phenomenal performance at the NFL Scouting Combine, showing a great blend of size (6′ 220lbs) and a blazing 4.43 40 yard dash time. Although not asked to catch much in his collegiate career, Tate has shown good hands. The Texans also passed on Toby Gerhart, (who most of the local fans expected the team to draft) but instead traded down with the Vikings to select their new RB Ben Tate.

Of course, Auburn runs a spread offense, so many have questioned how this new rookie will adjust to the Texans current zone blocking scheme. He will also have to show that he can block in the backfield for a team that relies on so heavily on the pass, and it’s running backs to pick up the blitz.

With a healthy Steve Slaton, and two young, bigger backs in Arian Foster, and Ben Tate, look for the Houston Texans to have a much more balanced offense in 2010. With the added dimension of a solid running game, the offense that finished 4th overall, could be even scarier for opposing defenses. If  Tate, or Foster can establish themselves as a 2 down back, and be spelled on 3rd downs with the 2008 version of Slaton, the Texans can not only contend for the NFL playoffs, but could help win many fantasy league championships as well. At this point fantasy owners need to gamble on trying to pick the RB of choice out of this Texan trio. One of the three RB’s will steal the spotlight and training camp looks to where the competition is going down