In 2010 his first year as a starter and break out year he won the triple crown by leading the NFL in rushing yards:1,616,rushing touchdowns:16 and receiving yards:604. His 2010 1,616 yards are the most by any undrafted player in the history in the NFL. Thats right everyone knows by now that arguably the best running back in the NFL went undrafted. He followed up in 2011 by rushing 1,224 yards with 10 rushing touchdowns while catching 617 yards through the air all while missing the first three games to a hamstring injury. Foster would've had more in each category if the incredible back up Ben Tate didn't get so many carries for 942 yards, pretty good back up right? Best running back tandem in the history of the NFL. Back to Foster if you just put his 2010 numbers plus his 2011 numbers and you do that to all the other running backs in the NFL using their 2010 and 2011 numbers Foster leads the league in the triple crown as well so thats what arguably makes him the best in the NFL. Thats right, all his numbers since he has been a starter in 2010 have been better in every category beat Adrian Peterson,Chris Johnson,Lesean McCoy (insert any running back name here). Foster has been a Pro Bowler the past two years, and during the 2012 Playoffs Foster rushed over 100 yards in both games and set a record by most yards by a running back in their first 2 playoff games with 285, a record previously held by Duane Thomas since 1970 with 278.
I'm really glad Arian was signed to the Texans for five more years. Foster's number in the past few years have been better than Chris Johnson's, who just last year held out to be the highest paid back in the NFL. Foster could have easily followed the same route and held out until he got the outrageous deal that he could potentially command, but the deal Arian signed today was nearly $10M less than Chris Johnson's contract. If the Texans cap situation was different it's possible that Arian would have held out and pursued a higher paying contract, but Arian wanted to remain a Texan so he understood that a sacrifice would have to be made. With the Texans already millions of dollars over the salary cap and with plenty of other unrestricted free agents on the roster that need to be resigned to their own multi-million dollar deals, Arian was selfless enough to come to a reasonable agreement with the Houston franchise. I believe Foster will be a priceless benefit to the Texans for as long as he plays in a Texans uniform.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the question of whether the Texans should have signed Mario Williams instead of Foster, I believe they made the right choice in signing Arian. Not to say that Mario isn't an amazing player and he doesn't deserve a healthy contract, it's just that Houston isn't financially able to give him the massive contract that other teams are likely to throw his way. Mario has been a great asset to the Texans ever since he was drafted first overall in 2006. In his career with the Texans he has recorded 53.5 sacks, 241 tackles, and 11 forced fumbles, some quite impressive numbers. Sadly, with the current atmosphere in the league where pass rushers are held in such high regard and are seen as one of the most important facets of a defense and the Texans having so little money to work with to stay under the cap, it is now even more likely after signing Arian that Mario won't be a part of the Texans franchise this coming year. Of course, there is still the slightest of chances that somehow, someway, the Texans are able to renegotiate enough contracts that they can find the cap space to keep Mario Williams but this is an extremely optimistic outlook and in all reality it is almost a certainty that 2011 was the last year that Mario will play with Toro on his sideline.