The Latest on Steve Slaton's Neck Surgery, Texans Running Game
by Stephanie Stradley
At the end of January, Texans head coach Gary Kubiak -- on a Denver radio show -- mentioned in passing that Steve Slaton had neck surgery and talked about his return to the field. After that report surfaced, the Houston Chronicle's John McClain said that Dr. Drew Dossett of Dallas performed a discectomy on Slaton to relieve pressure on the nerve root of the spine, and that Slaton should be fine in 4 to 6 months. After this report became common knowledge, the team's official website hosted a live chat with Slaton to allow him to talk directly to fans. He spoke of his health, last year's performance and his taste in women and song. If given a choice between Beyoncé and Alicia Keys, he picks Beyoncé. About his injury, surgery and last year's fumble problems, he says:
Owen Daniels, the starting tight end for Houston, left the Texans' game early in the first quarter with a sprained right knee. The Texans managed to win (mostly due to Ryan Moats' beast of a game) but it appears as if the win will be pretty bittersweet, as it's being reported that Daniels is out for the season.Adam Schefter innocuously (read: no link) dropped the news on Twitter, and the Houston Chronicle has -- kind of -- confirmed it, stating that Daniels will have an MRI on Monday but is "most likely" done for the season.If Daniels does indeed miss the rest of the year, it's a tremendous blow for a Texans passing attack that had been one of the best in the NFL this year (third overall in passing yardage at 285.6 yards per game). Daniels led all NFL tight ends in yardage, was second in receptions, and third in receiving yards per game.The tight end, as noted by Texans expert and now heartbroken fan Steph Stradley, had previously tore his left ACL in high school and his left ACL and MCL in college; this seems like the same injury, only to the other leg.Daniels' five touchdowns on the season and 40 receptions were the most on the team and his 519 yards were second behind only Andre Johnson. So yeah, he will be sorely missed.Fantasy Spin: This is a nightmare scenario for Daniels' owners, obviously, because thus far he's been the top scoring TE in all Fleaflicker leagues. Hold onto him for now (at least until Monday afternoon) because you don't want to find out he'll only miss 2-3 weeks right after putting him on waivers, but be thinking about a replacement immediately. Joel Dreessen will likely catch the balls from Matt Schaub, so if you're in a deep league, go ahead and make that play, just because Houston tosses the ball a lot. If you're in a shallow league, Ben Watson (34 percent owned), Tony Scheffler (57 percent) and Todd Heap (51 percent) are all viable options as well.
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Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on FacebookOwen Daniels Reportedly Out for Season With Right Knee Injury originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST . .
If you write about the Houston Texans, the No. 1 question you get from fans and fantasy football types is what's up with Steve Slaton? In the last game against the atrocious run defense of the Buffalo Bills, Slaton was benched after only one catch and carry because he fumbled the ball. Yet again. Slaton has a league-high seven fumbles for the year. Coach Gary Kubiak was up front about the benching, talking about it to Slaton and the team: "I told Steve in the locker room to get his chin up. This team needs him playing well and making plays and I'm expecting him to come right back next week and help us." I don't know if anyone knows whether Slaton can get on track. Kubiak wants two things of his runners: one, no negative yards, no dancing in the backfield, just pick a hole and go; and two, no balls on the ground. Slaton has struggled with both of these things this year. Given that the best way to beat the Colts is to keep quarterback Peyton Manning off the field, the Texans are going to want to be able to run the ball this Sunday, and Kubiak says he wants Slaton to be a part of that. Kubiak certainly needs Slaton's help facing the Colts on the road, a place where the Texans have never won. Last year in Indy, Slaton had his best rushing day in the NFL with 156 yards on the ground and no receiving yards. With tight end Owen Daniels done for the year with an ACL tear after leading all league TE's in yards, the Texans are going to need the rest of their playmakers to make plays. Though Slaton has very much struggled this year in his rushing yards, he has 314 receiving yards despite being pulled so early in the Bills game. The top three receivers for the Texans have been Andre Johnson, Daniels and Slaton, so they certainly want him to be on track. Last year, Slaton got carries because the Texans had few choices. Running backs Ahman Green and Chris Brown were out due to injuries, and Ryan Moats was a guy who was added to the roster after camp. Though Moats and Brown are both healthy, the Texans are going to want Slaton's big play ability. Even so, Kubiak is going to want to reward Moats' three-touchdown performance against the Bills because he tends to want to reward great play on the field whether it comes from named stars or not. Moats had a good performance earlier in the season in limited minutes, but didn't play the next week due to a turf toe injury. Kubiak in talking about the running back situation in his Monday press conference said he wanted to "play them all," and that he may look to working in Slaton at different downs. The running game in general has struggled for the Texans partially due to both starting guard positions being replaced for injuries. In addition, last year, the running game started off slow and improved as the year progressed, mirroring Slaton's season. Now that teams see that he fumbles the ball, they are holding him up and trying to strip it as he tries to gain extra yardage in traffic.What's the Story on Steve Slaton? originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST . .
Be careful folks; don't let that Tryptophan spin you into a snooze on Thanksgiving Day before carefully setting that fantasy lineup. There are a couple of critical injuries to keep an eye on for Thursday, so take note as you prepare your for your last hurrah before the fantasy playoffs. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments. The Arizona CardinalsThe Cardinals are sitting pretty from a fantasy perspective. Everybody is good to go.The Dallas CowboysTony Romo - Tony Romo went back to wearing a splint on his finger during practice on Tuesday, but he will play on Turkey Day. Whether or not he plays with the splint is unknown at this point, but regardless, after last week's gigantic numbers, start him no matter what, because he should pick apart the porous Seattle defense.Jason Witten - Witten continues to nurse his sore ribs, but he will definitely play on Thursday. The real question is do fantasy owners stick with Witten despite his one catch per game average over the past four games? I would say yes, start Witten on Thursday, because the Seahawks have a below average pass defense and he should return to form. Witten also has a tendency to score touchdowns on Turkey Day (two TDs in three years), so keep him in there.