ARIAN FOSTER RANKING RANGE RB NO. 3-12

KEN DAUBE NO. 3 RB Even before his injury in Week 9, people were souring on Foster due to a severe drop in touchdowns and 100yard rushing games. Ignore those stats and instead focus on his 4.5 yards per carry, which was better than his  averages in 2011 and 2012. Not only is he not on the decline, he is still close to the best.

ERIC KARABELL NO. 7 RB Enough of his excellent  skills remain, and Foster is primed for a comeback. At 28, he isn't too old and hasn't endured so much physical  abuse (1,131 career carries) that he can't give us a season of 1,500 total yards with double-digit touchdowns. He's a great second-round choice after he inevitably slips.

MATTHEW BERRY NO. 7 RB He's still a feature back in a league where there aren't many; he was productive when healthy (4.5 ypc last season). Under Bill O'Brien,  Houston will once again be a very fantasyfriendly offense. With uncertain quarterback play, expect O'Brien to find different ways to get the ball in Foster's hands. A lot.

TRISTAN H. COCKCROFT NO. 9 RB His per-touch averages didn't suffer before he was injured. Another thing I like is that he's one of the game's most reliable TD bets. Over the past three seasons, Foster has the seventhmost goal-line carries inside the 1-yard line (17), and he's converted 64.7 percent into scores (NFL average: 55.5 percent).

JIM MCCORMICK NO. 8 RB Fear of decline is countered by several key positives; he posted  4.5 yards per carry behind a premier runblocking group the past several seasons per both Football Outsiders and Pro Football Focus. Meanwhile, Ben Tate has moved on,  significantly reducing competition for meaningful work.

KC JOYNER NO. 12 RB Foster's 7.4 good blocking yards per attempt falls short of the 8-9 GBYPA mark of other top-range running backs and illustrates how he needs volume more than most fantasy RBs. Injuries are a concern, but his 1,131 career carries are below the 1,500 that is the historical bar for RB performance decline.

CHRISTOPHER HARRIS NO. 10 RB Foster won't finish 10th; he'll either wind up higher or much lower. After three straight years of massive workloads, he broke down in '13, so there's a chance the party is simply over. But I'm not totally there yet. Foster looked great before he got hurt, and the Texans will nurse an inexperienced QB via their ground game.

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