FanHouse Steve Slaton

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

I was asked a question the other day on Twitter (send any fantasy football question my way to @knoxbardeen), it went something like, "Who is the better stash running back, Kolby Smith or Ryan Moats?" What an interesting thought.

Smith is coming off of major surgery to join the running back mix in Kansas City and Moats has forced a running back by committee situation in Houston. My original thought, and the answer that I provided, was to say Smith. I'm just not sold that Moats is going to be able to keep Steve Slaton from taking the job of featured rusher back. I also wasn't sold that Jamaal Charles could hold of Smith in a competition in Kansas City.

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

There are two receivers on the Miami Dolphins roster who are barely owned in fantasy football leagues -- I think that they should be shown more love. FanHouse fantasy football guru R.J. White wrote a little about Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo earlier on Wednesday, I wanted to add a few more numbers to the mix.

These two guys just combined for 127 yards on 11 catches against the Patriots. Take a second to soak that in. Following the demotion of Ted Ginn, Bess and Camarillo saw a quick bump in fantasy value. Bess finds his way onto a roster in many more leagues than Camarillo, but they hold similar value. The Buccaneers will spend a good portion of practice prepping for the wildcat look, and the two Miami wideouts should benefit.

Maybe Texans coach Gary Kubiak was just doing the standard NFL coach non-answer thing. When asked yesterday about his team having interest in just-released Chiefs malcontent RB Larry Johnson, Kubiak hemmed and hawed, called Johnson "a good player" and said, "We'll take a look at him." And this might mean nothing, of course. Might mean Kubiak really can't say whether his team is interested, because maybe he doesn't want him but the owner does or vice-versa or something like that. If they do end up pursuing the guy, it won't help negotiations much if the coach is out front saying, "Yeah, we really want him." So Kubiak said basically what he's supposed to say, and reading too much into it is probably a mistake.

But regardless of what's really going on behind the scenes, and regardless of the muddle they have going on right now with Ryan Moats playing on running downs and Steve Slaton playing on passing downs or whatever they're trying to with their running backs, I think the Texans ought to take a pass on Larry Johnson. I think they have too much good stuff going on there right now to bring in his kinds of issues.

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

The Kansas City Chiefs have finally bid farewell to Larry Johnson. The troubled RB who was once famed and beloved in many a fantasy circle is now simply an after thought. Aside from his horrid play of the field, his off-field antics and foul mouthed tweets were simply enough for the Chiefs to pull the plug. He was cranking up to the tune of less than 3.0 yards per carry on the season. And let's just be honest who cares, because it's been years since Johnson has been relevant.

This news should come as little surprise. However, a funny thing happens away from the reality side of the story. That's right, the fantasy football world begins to turn on it's axis with visions of glory and/or delusions that somehow Johnson being set free could be a blessing in disguise. Where will LJ end up? Is he worth nabbing off the waiver wire? Oh man, the many possibilities, but don't get ahead of yourself. First off, he'll need to audition and then he'll need to prove he's still worthy of a shot. With the season growing towards the end...how excited can you really be about LJ the free agent?

Running back Ryan Moats almost single-handedly carried Houston to a Week 8 win at Buffalo -- scoring three rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Texans turned a 10-9 deficit into a 31-10 victory.

He'll be rewarded for that effort, too. Houston coach Gary Kubiak told ESPN's Bob Holtzman that Moats will be his team's starting back when the Texans play in Indianapolis Sunday, according to Adam Schefter.

Kubiak also said that Steve Slaton, who's had major issues with ball security this year, will share carries.

We're back, albeit a few days late. Matt Snyder and Tom Herrera bring you the weekly FanHouse fantasy football podcast on a Saturday this week, for various administrative reasons -- none of which have anything to do with fantasy football. We will discuss the return of Brian Westbrook and Calvin Johnson. Snyder defends his love of Steve Slaton, even in the face of adversity, we talk about how Austin Collie is who everyone thought Anthony Gonzalez would be and, finally, why Herrera recently had a Seinfeldian experience in New York (not really, but Snyder is Seinfeld obsessed). Take a listen after the jump.

This weekend's AFC South showdown appeared, at the beginning of the week, to be one of those strength vs. strength matchups. The Colts have the NFL's seventh-ranked pass defense and they have only allowed three passing touchdowns all season (making them the stingiest in the NFL). The Houston Texans are the NFL's third-best passing team and have thrown 16 touchdown passes in eight games.

Things this week, have, uh, changed a bit.

Am I scared about the prospects of Steve Slaton losing carries to Ryan Moats (and even Chris Brown)? Absolutely. I'm more concerned about the overreactions from across the fantasy football world. Sure, I took it on the chin with Slaton in one league, but last week was hardly indicative of what will transpire from here on out.

Consider the following:
- If Gary Kubiak was going to send a message to his second-year running back with problems holding onto the football, what better opponent than the league's worst run defense?

- Slaton shredded the Colts in Indy last year, and that was without Matt Schaub at the helm to take pressure off him.

- Frank Gore got loose for a 64-yard touchdown against the Colts and added 43 receiving yards. Slaton is faster, more elusive and a better pass-catcher than Gore.

So, yeah, of course last week made me worried about Slaton. But I live by the "no guts, no glory" credo. You'll find Slaton in my top 15. You can have Ryan Moats.

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Did you hear that breaking sound? That would be the roof over Ryan Moats. The Texan running back saved the day on Sunday, taking over for a guy that's dropped more balls than Hanon from Little Giants (yeah, Steve Slaton owners, I went there). The three-touchdown day from Moats will earn him the biggest portion of waiver wire love this week.

Who are you dropping? Who else is sitting on your wire, waiting to be scooped up? Check out the chat wrap below to see what we had to say about this week's hot pickups and valuable trade options.

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."