Steve Slaton and his case of fumblitis
You can’t say that Texans coach Gary Kubiak didn’t warn Steve Slaton.
* After Slaton fumbled twice in Week 2, Kubiak said this: “My concern with him, as I told him [Sept. 22], he’s got three balls on the ground in (26) carries in two games. That can’t happen.”
* Following another fumble in Week 6, Kubiak pledged to work with Slaton in practice on his problem: “We’ve got to get his attention from that standpoint. Obviously, fumbles can get you beat. … It’s something Steve has to get corrected.”
* Kubiak was still positive after Slaton lost another fumble in Week 7: “People smell blood because he’s put some balls on the ground. Steve’s our guy, and I have a lot of confidence in him. It’s out job to help him find a way to hold on to the football.”
Obviously, Kubiak ran out of patience in Week 8. He benched Slaton for the rest of the game after a fumble on the Texans’ second series. Slaton now has fumbled seven times in eight games.
To make matters worse for Slaton, Ryan Moats came on and popped off for 126 yards and three touchdowns in the win at Buffalo. Kubiak had this to say Monday about Slaton possibly losing his job, per the Houston Chronicle:
“Ryan took advantage of the situation. We’ll go to next week. We’ll see.”
About the only positive Slaton’s owners can take out of Sunday is Owen Daniels’ injury. Slaton will be needed even more in the passing game, something he excels at.
It also helps that Slaton doesn't have a history of fumbling. He put the ball on the ground just three times on 318 touches last season.
As long as he can string together a few fumble-free games while playing in a committee with Moats and Chris Brown, Slaton should earn his team’s trust back. Regardless, it will be interesting to see what Kubiak has to say about Slaton at this afternoon's press conference.
Comments
Slaton is too talented not to recover from this. He is likely never going to be a great inside rusher/goal line back, but his versatility as a pass catcher will make him a perfect compliment in RBBC.
Often times players that get benched from fumbling issues, stop the problem all together. It is in his head now, and that may be a bit of an issue for redraft. His Dynasty value is still in the Top-10 at the position.
Posted by: BeastOrBust | November 3, 2009 8:17 AM
it really boggles the mind that coaches have seem to forgotten how tiki barber solved his fumbling problem. it's almost like that way of carrying the ball isn't 'good enough' or something.
Posted by: jmp14 | November 4, 2009 12:10 AM
Steve Slaton is the real deal! Benching him for Moats going forward would be a mistake. Slaton is a gamebreaker. Sure the fumbling has to stop, but with Owen Daniels going down the Texans need Slaton even more now. I believe Moats is a serviceable back-up and his outbreak was due to a poor Buffalo Rush Defense. Slaton should continue to be the bell cow! Moats can be sprinkled in every now and then only to give Slaton a breather. In addition if Houston was smart they would stop wasting their time with Chris Brown he has already costed them two games this year with his poor goalline production.
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