To draft Arian Foster, or not to draft Arian Foster? That's the question fantasy football owners are asking themselves in the middle of their drafts.
My answer is simple: No. If you need a little more elaboration, check out my five reasons for this totally unbiased* opinion (*denotes extreme bias).
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Do not draft Arian Foster because...
1. He tore his groin off the bone. This should be enough for fantasy football owners to walk away from Arian Foster for 2015, but apparently it's not. Though Foster originally had a 3-6 month timetable, recent injury updates are that he could be back by the end of September in a best-case scenario. There's rarely a "best-case scenario" for Foster, who doesn't have a rep for fast healing.
2. He's still an injury risk. Even if Foster beats the odds and returns by the end of September, he runs the risk of re-injury — or injuring some other body part. Let's not forget Foster has missed 11 games in the past two seasons, with more vacation time scheduled to start the 2015 season. This is why I don't understand the optimism around Foster's return.
3. A mid-round pick is still valuable. Sure, there's potential for a big reward with the Foster risk, but fantasy owners are placing pricey bets on his recovery. Foster has an average draft position of 65 on Yahoo, which puts him in the sixth round of 12-team drafts. You can get some damn good, healthy players in the sixth round. Or you can carry around dead weight on your roster for 3-10 weeks. Your call.
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4. Alfred Blue and the Texans suck. If you draft Foster, you're going to feel obligated to handcuff him with Alfred Blue to be "safe." Think about that insanity. Blue averaged 3.1 yards per carry last year and has looked even worse this preseason. Even if you have a better backup plan than Blue, you'll still be getting Foster — whenever he returns — in a Texans offense that projects to be worse than last year's middle-of-the-pack unit that's now missing Andre Johnson and still has no NFL-caliber quarterback. If I were Foster, I wouldn't rush back.
5. Fantasy football is cruel. Odds are, you're going to have at least one devastating injury and/or a total bust somewhere near the top of your lineup this season. That's how fantasy football works. The point is, with inevitable headaches on the horizon, why intentionally inflict pain on yourself and draft Foster? In this case, the rewards aren't matching up to the risks.