Arian Foster will BUST

~~I will begin by expressing my gratitude for those who have continued to check in to my blog, even though my increasingly busy schedule has kept me away from most of my extracurricular activity, including blogging. I wish I could write a good full-length blog with in-depth analysis in an hour, but it is much more time consuming than that. However, I will be posting much more frequently (and probably in a more abbreviated fashion) during the season, so don't forget about me.~~

This is not one of my fancy-shmancy professional article looking blog entries, because I don't intend it to be. I am simply recording one of my boldest predictions in a while, and I wanted to have it dated before the season begins to live or die by it.

For the entire offseason, I have been calling Arian Foster overrated...getting sick over those who were riding his jock after dominating the fantasy world last year. Before his hamstring issues, and even before losing his pro-bowl fullback, Vonta Leach, there were red flags that were being entirely disregarded by FFaholics everywhere.

First, he had a total of 392 touches last season, which is an incredible amount of touches for any RB. That kind of usage usually wears down a RB and becomes apparent the following season when he keeps getting nagging injuries that hamper his abilities.

Second, Ben Tate is returning from last season's IR. This is the same Ben Tate that was drafted to be the starting RB for Coach Kubiak's zone-blocking system. This is the same Ben Tate that was expected to be the starter for Houston in 2010, before he broke his ankle. This is the same Ben Tate who has a very similar style, size and strength as Arian Foster, but is faster. He is basically a faster Foster.

Third, I have always feared the "flash-in-the-pan" possibility. That possibility is always much stronger under a Mike Shanahan system, and Gary Kubiak is a Shanahan disciple. Shanahan and Kubiak have never played favorites with RBs, and both have always been able to find a new star each year. Just like Steve Slaton, Mike Anderson, Olandis Gary, and Reuben Droughns, I have always feared that Foster would be quickly replaced as soon as he became less effective. Granted, Foster is a more rounded RB than those mentioned, but the Shanahan system still speaks for itself.

After all of those fears had me rank Foster sixth among RBs, losing his probowl fullback Vonta Leach in free agency had me fear that sixth may still be overrated for Foster. Now the hamstring issues persist, and have currently knocked him out of the week 1 game against the Colts. These kind of hamstring issues are very typical of a RB who got overworked the previous year.

All these factors guarantee that Foster is, and has been overrated, but with his recent reoccurring hamstring issues, I will take the overrated call to the limit and say that ARIAN FOSTER IS A 2011 BUST! The main reason he will bust is because he will miss more than one game due to injury.

Since I wasn't able post my sleepers and busts earlier this year, I will quickly name some of my top players who I like and don't like for this season and I will not include Peyton Manning.

Busts ~~ A Foster, R Mendenhall, M Turner, K Moreno, BJ Green-Ellis, J Freeman, M Colston, S Johnson, S Moss (every year), T Gonzalez.

Overrated ~~ F Gore, S Jackson, M Forte, P Hillis, D Williams, C Benson, C Wells, M Vick, E Manning, G Jennings, M Austin, M Williams TB, J Maclin, V Davis

Underrated ~~ S Greene, R Bush, T Jones, S Bradford, K Orton, K Kolb, R Fitzpatrick, A Boldin, M Floyd, N Burleson, J Knox, M Sims-Walker, V Shaincoe

Sleepers ~~ M Ingram, B Tate, M Hardesty, J Starks, D Carter, J Snelling, C Newton, M Manningham, D Amendola, S Breaston, E Bennett, Ant Brown, M Thomas, G Olsen, M Lewis, J Gresham, J Cook

Breakouts ~~ T Hightower, L Blount, M Stafford, M Ryan, D Bryant, J Graham