One of the more interesting position battles to watch heading into the 2010 season is taking place in Houston, where four running backs are vying for the starting job.

Surprisingly, 2008 standout Steve Slaton and rookie second-round pick Ben Tate (Auburn) find themselves with some ground to make up.

That’s because Arian Foster is currently running with the first-team offense at Houston’s OTAs, per Nick Scurfield of HoustonTexans.com.

Foster—who rushed for 216 yards and three scores on 39 carries in the Texans’ final two games last season—is entering his second year in the NFL out of the University of Tennessee. He went undrafted in 2009 and joined the Texans as a free agent.

"Really, the sky's the limit, man," Foster told Scurfield. "I've just got to keep my head down and go to work every day like it's my first day out here. That's the mindset I'm going to keep the entire year: If they give me an opportunity, I'm going to take advantage of it."

Whether or not Foster can hold off the competition and start for the Texans in Week 1 remains to be seen and is considered somewhat unlikely. Rookie Ben Tate has missed all of Houston’s OTAs due to a hamstring injury, but brings a dangerous combination of size (5-11, 220) and speed to the offense. In addition, two-year veteran Steve Slaton—who rushed for 1,282 yards and nine scores in 2008—is expected to make a strong push to reclaim the job he lost midway through last season.

Hit me up on Twitter: @JoeFortenbaugh