SameSongNDance said:
This thread devolved rather quickly eh?
In an attempt to bring back some "on-topic" discussion back:
We pay SO much attention (and nitpick every detail) of Arian Foster-all the way down to his attitude in which he addresses the media-because of one simple reason that we should not lose sight of and that is because, when he is on the field, he is a consistent, high-volume, top 5 RB-and that is important to us.
From the day he became known in fantasy circles he has been a very polarizing player because from the very beginning the people who scooped him wanted to let everyone know they thought they had something and those who didn't wanted to let everyone know that he was a flash in the pan.
If we can be aware of our biases on this, let's boil it down to the facts.
-He has a lot of carries on him. That is good in terms of FF use and productivity. That is bad in terms of worrying about, funny enough, the thing we seek the most (a high-volume RB) that isn't splitting duty).
-As a result of that high volume, he has been amazingly productive. More yards, more TDs, more big games than all of the others.
-Also as a result, he has been banged up. Not with ACLs and ribs and knees, but with Hamstrings and back aches for the most part.
-He is 28. That's no spring chicken but at the same time there are a lot of 28 year old professional athletes that are far from ready for a rocking chair.
What all this comes down to is we should listen when a veteran athlete is acknowledging an issue that he has experienced before. He knows that two seasons ago when he rushed back from the hamstring issue it set him back most of the season. He may also know (I don't know this, just speculation) that one injury nagging and being compensated for contributed to other things.
So now he is very openly saying that he needs to get this right. So, we wait and when its right, he will be rock solid. Is that as good as having a guaranteed player on the field? No, but what RB ever plays all 16 anymore? It is far and few between. Last year, Shady and Charles and Peterson were Iron men. This year, they have all been out in the first month. It happens.