Tag: Arian Foster

Jonathan Taylor’s favorite NFL player was Texans RB Arian Foster

Former Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor says that his favorite NFL player growing up was Houston Texans running back Arian Foster.

INDIANAPOLIS — Why did former Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor wear No. 23 for the Badgers? Because he was paying homage to his favorite NFL player.

Taylor told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine Wednesday that the reason he wore No. 23 was for former Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins running back Arian Foster.

“So, growing up my favorite running back was Arian Foster, hence the reason I have 23,” Taylor said. “I just think he was so smooth for his size, in and out of his cuts. That’s just a guy I tried to model my game after.”

Taylor produced 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns on 320 carries in his final season at Wisconsin, earning his second first-team All-American and repeating as the Doak Walker Award winner.

The Salem, New Jersey, native admired how smoothly Foster, the 2010 NFL rushing champion, was able to move on the gridiron, earning four Pro Bowl selections and two first-team All-Pro nominations in the process.

“Arian Foster was really smooth in and out of his cuts for his size,” said Taylor. “So, me being kind of a bigger back, making sure when I play, I play smooth so it looks natural.

“And I thought it was just like rhythm and poetry in my eyes.

Because of his admiration of foster, Taylor also became a fan of the Texans, who won three AFC South titles in Foster’s tenure with the club from 2009-15.

Said Taylor: “So, I grew up watching the Texans due to Arian Foster, so I guess I’d have to go with the Texans.”

According to Walter Football, Taylor is projected to go in the first or second round. The Texans’ first selection of the draft isn’t until deep in the second round at No. 57. It is unlikely that Houston will be able to take Taylor, who would be an upgrade with his talent and youth.

Eagles’ RB Miles Sanders being compared to LeSean McCoy, Arian Foster after breakout performance

Miles Sanders being compared to LeSean McCoy, Arian Foster after a breakout performance

He’s shattering all of his records, so it only makes sense that Miles Sanders and LeSean McCoy would be mentioned in the same breathe together.

Sanders carried the Eagles offense with 172 total yards and two scores in the Birds 37-27 win over Washington. Sanders was so impressive, that veteran players and future Hall of Famers were comparing the rookie to some all-time greats afterward.

Jason Peters compared Sanders to another former Eagles great, now flourishing in Kansas City.

“He is on that Shady level. He’s smooth,” Peters said. “He can catch, split him out, same as we did with Shady. He’s going to be a good one.”

Brandon Brooks took it a step further, comparing him to his former teammate in Houston, Arian Foster via ESPN.com.

“Arian at his peak, there was nothing he couldn’t do: receive out of the backfield, making guys miss, taking the ball [the distance]. We ran a zone back then — one cut downhill. He reminds me of him a lot,” Brooks said.

On Sunday Sanders broke the Eagles rookie record for yards from scrimmage and later in the ballgame, he passed LeSean McCoy for the most yards rushing in a season by a rookie.

Sanders entered Sunday only 117 rushing yards behind McCoy’s franchise rookie rushing record (637), which was set in 2009.

Arian Foster calls out NFL fans for being hypocrites over Myles Garrett attack

Arian Foster spoke out about the Myles Garrett attack on Mason Rudolph, pointing out that NFL fans like violence when it’s within rules.

The Browns’ Myles Garrett could face a lengthy suspension for an on-field fight during Thursday Night Football, when he removed the helmet of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and then hit Rudolph over the head with the helmet.

Fans were outraged. Rudolph called it “bush league.” A lot of people were very upset.

Former NFL running back Arian Foster wasn’t comfortable with any of that, really. On Twitter, Foster called out NFL fans on their hypocrisy, saying they were totally fine with the violence of the sport, as long as it was within the confines of the rules. If violence occurs outside those rules, however, suddenly everyone gets very sanctimonious indeed.

He’s got a good point. Fans lament the days when safeties could head hunt defenseless receivers over the middle, but are ready to suspend Garrett indefinitely because he swung a helmet at a guy. Neither is good, of course, but you can’t really have it both ways.

Because it’s Twitter, a lot of people didn’t seem to understand the point Foster was trying to make, and got furious about it. This only sort of reinforced his point.

We need these lines of demarcation about what is appropriate/inappropriate on a football field, because if we don’t, then we’re just left with the realization that these players are crushing each other’s brains on every play.

Foster went on to talk about how fights like this happen all the time in training camp, and how no one seems to make as big a deal as this when baseball pitchers throw a hard object 100 mph at an opponent’s head. All good points!

The rest of his tweets have some pretty NSFW language, and rather them edit them all out, you can check them out at his Twitter feed.

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