His fantasy rep took a pounding last year, but Arian Foster is in line for plenty of touches and he may sneak up on owners with a big bounce back season. Photo: Icon Sportswire

Data as of July 11 | Current Cheatsheets | Current Projections

NR = Not ranked

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick

A nine-year veteran, Fitzpatrick joins his fifth team this year, heading to Houston and at this point we can probably describe him as a survivor. And the Texans starting quarterback in 2014, according to head coach Bill O’Brien. That’s really only relevant if you are in a fantasy league that starts two quarterbacks or if you are high on Andre Johnson or DeAndre Hopkins since Fitzpatrick is probably preferable to Case Keenum and definitely preferable to rookie 4th round draft pick Tom Savage in terms of helping their fantasy value. We hold out little hope that Fitzpatrick will change his turnover prone, dink and dunk ways in 2014.

RB Arian Foster

After totaling a league high 1,114 touches from 2010 to 2012 seasons, Foster suffered through an injury marred 2013 season in Houston. A back injury caused him to miss eight games and he barely played in two others, finishing the season with 542 rushing yards, 183 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. While Foster’s fantasy rep took a pounding, a closer look reveals that he averaged 13.9 PPG in the six games that he was healthy, hitting double digit fantasy points four times. That’s RB1 status, folks, provided he can stay healthy. Word out of Houston is that Foster will open training camp with a clean bill of health. The Texans are expected to lean heavily on the run with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback, so Foster should see plenty of touches in 2014. A bounce back season appears to be in order for Foster, one of the league’s most talented running backs when healthy. We like him as a mid to lower RB1 and advise his owners to grab Andre Brown with a late round pick.

RB Andre Brown

If only Andre Brown could stay healthy. During the past two years with the New York Giants, Brown chalked up 877 rushing yards, 189 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns in 16 games but a pair of broken legs caused him to miss huge chunks of time in both seasons. With the Giants choosing to let Brown walk in free agency, the Texans scooped him up to replace Ben Tate as Arian Foster’s lead backup. A hard charging, one cut, downhill runner, Brown has limited upside if he were to sub in for Foster given his injury history, plodding style and lack of receiving ability. New Texans coach Bill O’Brien has been dropping plenty of hints that he will rely heavily on Foster this season meaning Brown isn’t a candidate to be a solid flex option unless he somehow becomes the team’s main option at the goal line. As a potential upside handcuff, we rate him as one of the league’s less appealing options.

WR Andre Johnson

With over 1,200 receiving yards in five of his last six seasons and four 100 reception seasons during that span, Johnson has been a consistent fantasy producer. However, there are storm clouds on the horizon given his age (33 on opening day), a potential holdout and the Texans quarterback situation, where Ryan Fitzpatrick will open the season under center. We think those concerns are a tad overblown. With major issues at quarterback last season, Johnson still pulled in 109 of his 181 targets for 1,407 yards and five touchdowns. Outside of DeAndre Hopkins, the Texans don’t possess any other wide receivers who are ready to emerge as potential starters. The only real issue with Johnson is the possible holdout but he has been a solid citizen during his 11-year career so we fully expect him to be ready to roll on opening day. Consider Johnson an upper tier WR2 for 2014 and one with the potential to finish as a mid-tier WR1.

WR DeAndre Hopkins

Taken in the 1st round of the 2013 NFL Draft, Hopkins was handed a starting spot in what was expected to be a high performing Texans offense. The Texans offense failed to reach those heights with Hopkins suffering through a year that can only charitably be described as mildly inconsistent. Despite finishing the year with very respectable numbers (52 receptions for 802 yards and a pair of touchdowns), he simply had too many no-shows, failing to reach 10 receiving yards three times, 40 receiving yards six times and earning 34% of his fantasy points in just two games (the only two double digit fantasy points games of his season). More is expected of Hopkins in 2014, but with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback and Andre Johnson threatening to hold out, his fantasy prognosis is difficult to decipher. On the one hand, an AJ holdout would lead to plenty of targets but we aren’t sold that Hopkins is a player that could remain productive with the extra defensive attention. If Fitzpatrick holds the job for the entire season and AJ doesn’t hold out, Hopkins has the potential to reach 1,000 receiving yards and 5-6 touchdowns, making him a low end WR3 or high end WR4 with upside.

WR Keshawn Martin

Two years into his career, Martin has done little to lock down a meaningful role with the Texans. The 2012 4th round pick has operated mainly out of the slot but has shown little playmaking ability and doesn’t catch a high percentage of his targets. With a career average of 10.6 yards per catch and a career completion rate of 47.1%, Martin hasn’t proven that he deserves a spot on the Texans roster let alone a major role in the team’s offense. We don’t expect that narrative to change much in 2014.

WR DeVier Posey

After having suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during the 2012 NFL Playoffs, Posey wasn’t expected to contribute much for the Texans last season. However, he played reasonably well, returning to the line up in Week 3 and catching 15 of his 25 targets for 155 yards in a limited role. The 2012 3rd round pick possesses solid size and speed but is stuck behind Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins on the depth chart at wide receiver. Since the Texans aren’t expected to finish amongst the league’s leading offensive teams with Ryan Fitzpatrick leading the way at quarterback, there isn’t much point in having one of their backup wide receivers using up a roster spot on your fantasy squad.

TE Garrett Graham

It’s a three horse race for the Texans starting position at tight end this season due to the offseason departure of long time starter Owen Daniels. Graham figures to get first crack at the job given his experience and solid production as a backup over the past two seasons (77 receptions on 127 targets for 808 yards and eight touchdowns). While Graham should open the season as the starter, we fully expect the Texans to utilize all three of their tight ends, rendering this an unappealing fantasy situation and one you should probably avoid.

TE Ryan Griffin

With both Owen Daniels and Garrett Graham out of the line up at the end of last season, Griffin stepped into the starting line up for the final three games of the season and hauled in 14 of his 18 targets for 177 yards. With Daniels out of the picture, the 2nd year player out of Connecticut will battle Garrett Graham and rookie 3rd round pick C.J. Fiedorowicz for the starting position. However, unless Griffin emerges as the clear cut starter and main receiving option, we don’t like his fantasy prospects heading into 2014.

TE C.J. Fiedorowicz

Looking to replenish their depth chart at tight end following the offseason departure of Owen Daniels, the Texans acquired Fiedorowicz with the first pick in the 3rd round of this year’s rookie draft. At 6’6” and 265 pounds, he possesses outstanding size to go along with average speed making him a middling prospect in dynasty formats. With Garrett Graham and Ryan Griffin ahead of Fiedorowicz heading into training camp, he shouldn’t end up on rosters in redraft formats until he puts together a couple of solid games in the regular season.