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There’s nothing that exciting about Matt Schaub or the way he plays, and no one claims that he’s an elite NFL quarterback. He gets practically half the attention that his superstar running back, Arian Foster, gets. Yet he has a quiet way of being very, very effective. Schaub tends to fly a bit under the radar with the Houston Texans, even when putting up Pro Bowl numbers. He might not have starting quarterback appeal in most fantasy football leagues, but go ahead and grab Schaub as your backup. It could turn out to be a great move.
The biggest limit to Schaub’s fantasy success is that he plays in a run-heavy offense. In fact, Foster led all running backs in 2012 with 351 rushing attempts. He led the league in rushing touchdowns as well. For Schaub, this means that he takes a back seat to the running game in most scenarios.
But somehow Schaub managed to throw for 4,000 yards last year. He certainly makes the most out of his opportunities in the passing game and when he’s playing well, the Texans aren’t afraid to turn him loose. Example: in weeks 10 and 11 of last year, Schaub had a combined 103 pass attempts for 842 yards. Absolute monster numbers. In those games, Foster saw a decreased workload and Schaub was the center of attention. So why not expect similar spikes in production from Schaub this year?
He might not be a dependable fantasy starter every week but when the matchup is right, you can bet Schaub will produce big time. With Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels as his primary weapons, Schaub is always a threat to make a big play in the air. Take a gamble on throwing him into your starting lineup when he draws a favorable matchup and he’ll turn out to be the best low-risk fantasy backup you ever had.
Jesse Schwartz is an NFL Writer at www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
