Some owners have written in wondering why I ranked DeShaun Foster so low this week considering his long history of success against the Falcons.

I care that Foster played his best game against Atlanta this year, but the rest of his numbers are meaningless to me. The Falcons have a different defensive coordinator than last year, and different personnel. The Panthers have different offensive personnel, a different offensive coordinator, and a new running scheme. There are too many changes every season on most NFL teams to look back and take those old numbers seriously.

Foster has gained between 43 and 64 rushing yards in the five games since Jake Delhomme was hurt, and those numbers matter more. If Foster moves up ahead of guys like Grant and Holmes on the Friday update, it will be because I trust them even less in retrospect, not because Foster ran well in 2005.