He made a big splash as a rookie, with 1,282 rushing yards, 377 receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns. Since then, running back Steve Slaton has largely disappeared.
Durability and an inability to hold onto the football landed him in coach Gary Kubiak’s doghouse, and with Arian Foster becoming the NFL’s leading rusher in 2010 and second-round pick Ben Tate still in the hopper after missing all of last season due to injury, Slaton is the odd man out.
And so it’s no surprise that the Texans, per Pro Football Weekly, plan to showcase Slaton during the preseason in the hopes of trading him.
The risk, of course, is that giving Slaton maximum exhibition reps could result in more injuries and/or more fumbles. But with Slaton destined to sit on the bench and unlikely to be willing to embrace grind-it-out special-teams duties in his fourth NFL season, it makes sense for the Texans to try to move Slaton.
Still, with quality running backs being pumped out of college programs every year -- and with undrafted gems like Foster lurking under an unturned stone -- we can’t imagine anyone giving up anything of real value for Slaton.