INDIANAPOLIS -After a week of speculation, running back Ryan Moats was named the Texans' starting running back for today's game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Moats replaces Steve Slaton as the starter after gaining 126 yards on 23 carries (5.5 avg.) with three touchdowns in the Texans' 31-10 victory at Buffalo. Slaton started against the Bills, but watched the remainder of the game from the sideline after losing a fumble in the first half. This season, Slaton has lost five fumbles after fumbling only three times total during his rookie year.
Despit today's announcement, Kubiak plans to use all three of his running backs, including Chris Brown, against the NFL's 17th-ranked rushing defense Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
"We'll need them all to win," Kubiak said Wednesday.
This season, Slaton has gained 342 yards on 110 carries (3.1 avg.) with two touchdowns. He's made a larger impact through the air, where he's caught 29 passes for 314 yards (10.5 avg.) with three scores. Last year, Slaton averaged 4.8 yards per carry and 7.5 yards per catch while leading all rookie running backs in rushing (1,282 yards).
Moats, in his fifth season out of Louisiana Tech, has gained 182 rushing yards on 38 carries (4.8 avg.) this year. He also has two receptions for 25 yards. He's a former third-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles who was signed to the Texans' practice squad on Oct. 7, 2008. A few weeks later, Moats joined Houston's active roster and finished 2008 with 94 rushing yards on 26 carries (3.6 avg.) with one score.
This is Moats' second career start and first with the Texans. Slaton had started 23 consecutive games dating back to his rookie season.
