2019 Summer Sleeper: Houston Texans

Noah Ballweg Posted On July 29, 2019

In our annual 32-part Summer Sleeper series, DLF scribes identify a lightly-touted player on each NFL roster who may be worthy of your consideration. Our subjects all have varying levels of “sleeperness,” but each merits a bit of in-depth discussion here in the Premium Content section.

To help everybody along, we are going to be categorizing our sleepers under one of three headings:

Super Deep Sleepers – Players who aren’t roster-worthy in 12-team leagues, but are still worth keeping an eye on.
Deep Sleepers – An end of the roster player who is more often than not on the waiver wire in 12-team leagues.
Sleeper – A likely rostered player who makes for a good trade target. Their startup ADP puts them out of the top-175 or so.

Because we aren’t going to give you the likes of mainstream sleepers, most of these players will undoubtedly fizzle. All we are asking is for you to keep an open mind and perhaps be willing to make room for one of these players on your bench. You never know when the next Adam Thielen is going to spring up. Feel free to add your own thoughts about our choice for the designated sleeper, or nominate one of your own in the comments below.

Last summer I covered the Houston Texans throughout their off-season and scoured the roster for a worthy summer sleeper who would climb from the depths of the lineup and make fantasy owners proud with their waiver wire wonders. While Terry Swanson did not quick pan out in the way I thought he would, 2019 provides new hope and an even more confident pick who I believe is going to shake up the Texans’ backfield.

Josh Ferguson, RB

Category: Deep Sleeper

The Texans have made it clear that they trust their two-man backfield of Lamar Miller and D’Onta Foreman. The organization chose not to pursue a running back in the 2019 NFL Draft until the seventh round when they selected Cullen Gillaspia out of Texas A&M. Undrafted free agent Karan Higdon was a player who certainly raised some hype when declaring for the draft, but a knee injury hurt his stock and he runs the risk of missing out on the 53-man roster.

So why Josh Ferguson? Some of you may even be asking: “Who is Josh Ferguson?”

There have been plenty of conversations from Houston’s coaching staff about the third-year pro, and almost all of it has been positive and pointing towards a third-down role within the backfield.

Before I break down the off-season that Ferguson has been having with the Texans, let’s first recap how he has reached this point and what about his attributes make him a great fantasy prospect.

Ferguson went undrafted in 2016 after graduating from the University of Illinois. He crept onto the radar of NFL scouts during his sophomore and junior seasons where he showed great versatility as a back, scoring 21 touchdowns, catching over 100 passes and averaging 5.25 yards per carrying in those two seasons combined. He was having a similar senior season before being sidelined with a right shoulder injury.

As the injury caused him to drop on draft boards, Ferguson impressed at the NFL Scouting Combine and seemed to be a draftable asset in the eyes of many scouts. He ranked ninth among running backs in the 40-yard dash with a 4.48-second time. Notable names ahead of him were Ezekiel Elliott, Kenyan Drake, and Wendell Smallwood. He ranked 12th in the vertical jump with a 34.5 score, 15th in the bench press with 21 reps and finished ninth in the broad jump with a score of 120.

There were concerns over his durability entering draft night and the fifth-sixth round projected back ended up falling undrafted and ultimately signed with the Colts. He has bounced around from team to team, off and on the injured reserve list and finally looks ready to make a name for himself in Houston.

While Miller and Foreman currently have the backfield in Houston on lockdown, the coaching staff has been raving over Ferguson’s improvement as a third-down back and head coach Bill O’Brien has already stated that he will make a good case as a backup in case of injury.

Ferguson won’t wow you out there on the field, but what he does well, he does so consistently and effectively. In dynasty leagues, that is exactly what we are searching for when scouring the waiver wire. Lamar Miller is coming off one of his more impressive seasons with the Texans and Foreman appears to be ready to breakout in 2019. However, if either is to suffer injury, or even if Ferguson begins to build a rapport out of the backfield with quarterback Deshaun Watson, the coaching staff will have no choice but to get the veteran some playing time.

Alfred Blue played a terrific 2018 season with the Houston Texans as the third-down back and landed himself a great job playing in Jacksonville. Ferguson can step into those shoes well and make an immediate impact in PPR formatted leagues, especially if his snap count rises. With comparisons to Duke Johnson Jr. and Andre Ellington, there seems to always be a role cut out within the backfield for players who consistently can make plays in a variety of ways. Josh Ferguson is that guy.

He currently holds an ADP value of 227.67, with startup owners drafting him late in the 18th and 19th rounds. While 227.67 is about the lowest of Ferguson’s career, that simply means you can acquire the back at a next to nothing cost and not feel any regret in doing so if you have the roster space.

So what are you waiting for!? Head over to your add/drop tab, add Josh Ferguson and reap the benefits of a great third-down option with upside for the 2019 season.