What Can Brown Do For You?
The Houston Texans jumped into the free agent frenzy today by signing former New York Giants’ running back Andre Brown to a cheap one-year deal. Brown will be asked to fill the void left by the departed Ben Tate who exited Houston and signed with the Cleveland Browns earlier this off-season.
The move by the Texans has surprisingly generated a healthy amount of buzz this evening, so we figured it was  a good time to re-evaluate Houston’s roster and discuss the impact of the move.
Let’s take a closer look at the players whose values have been impacted by the signing.
Andre Brown, RB HOU
Many veteran dynasty players remember Brown as a 2009 fourth round pick of the Giants who seemed to have sneaky upside that year. Unfortunately, injuries zapped much of his potential early in his career and he seemed destined to be somewhat of a bust in both fantasy and reality. In fact, he didn’t play at all for New York in 2009 before being released and played just three games for the Broncos in 2010, gaining all of -2 yards before landing back with the Giants for what seemed to his last chance two years ago.
Enter 2012.
With the New York running backs struggling with injuries and otherwise poor play, Brown was a bit of a revelation that season for the G-men as he rushed for 385 yards and eight touchdowns on just 73 attempts (good for a 5.3 yards per carry average) before breaking his leg with five games to go. Last year, many thought Brown was the back to own for the Giants, but he broke his leg again in the preseason and didn’t return looking like the same player. Â In fact, he averaged just 3.5 yards per carry and scored just three touchdowns last year, though he did gain a career high 492 yards in his eight games played.
In Houston, Brown should fill the role left by Ben Tate, but don’t expect anything magical. He’s been fairly average throughout his  career and is even more fragile than Tate. He could make for a good handcuff given Arian Foster’s injury and workload status, but Houston didn’t bring him in to compete for the starting job – he’s an insurance policy at this point in his career. His one-year, $645,000 deal and soft market showed how much others believe in him around the league. He’s also 27 years old and has an extensive injury history, so the Texans aren’t exactly making him the heir apparent to the running back throne.
All that being said, Brown does have some value in dynasty leagues. However, he shouldn’t be someone to target aggressively and if someone in your league believes he’s going to overtake Foster or should be considered more than a handcuff, it’s time to pounce.
Arian Foster, RB HOU
After a few years as the King of fantasy football, it’s amazing to me how Foster has been practically left for dead. While his days as an undisputed and elite RB1 are likely over, he’s still on track to be a key player in dynasty leagues this year. While no longer a pillar to build around, this move doesn’t really impact Foster all that much. Anyone who believed the Texans weren’t going to replace Tate on their roster with someone from the outside were likely kidding themselves.
In fact, I believe this move may actually help Foster. Had the Texans used a higher pick on a running back (which they still could), I’d be more concerned about his workload moving forward. I could see Brown being mixed in as a change of pace back or to give Foster a break, but that’s about it.
I’m much more concerned about Foster’s workload, injuries of his own and new offense than I am with the addition of Brown.
Dennis Johnson, Chad Spann and Jonathan Grimes, RBs HOU
The news of Brown landing in Houston likely has a short term impact much more devastating on this trio than anyone else. Each of these players has had a chance to impress (as has Ray Graham), but none have really taken the bull by the horns, so to speak. If you’re holding on to one of these players, I’d actually wait to drop them until the NFL Draft is over. Brown is a one-year insurance policy (and an injury prone one, at that) and a new rookie being drafted or brought in by the Texans would show a long-term belief none of these players could have a significant future with the Texans.
Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
