The Texans have built up quite a stable of young talented running backs. Between Arian Foster’s emergence at the end of last season, second round rookie Ben Tate, and the possible comeback of Steve Slaton, it was very clear that Ryan Moats was only going to see the field if injuries struck the backfield hard.
With Jeremiah Johnson now healthy and Chris Henry also chomping at the bit to get off the practice squad, Moats was checking his rearview mirror as well. This was a case of a release that the Texans didn’t have to make. They could have kept Moats on the roster as injury insurance throughout training camp. But instead, the Texans showed a lot of class in releasing him and letting him try to find a better situation to see the field in another city.
Moats is never going on a Texans Fan’s Mount Rushmore or anything, but his Week 8 game against the Bills last year will go down in the historical annals with Ron Dayne’s 153 yards and 2 TD’s against Indianapolis as fondly remembered flukes.
And hey, there are worse fates. He could’ve been remembered like Stacey Mack is.