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The Cleveland Browns haven't had a featured back since they traded Trent Richardson after the first two games of last season. Now they do. The team signed Ben Tate to a two year contract on Saturday.

Fantasy football owners should take note. A fifth-year pro, Tate, 25, has averaged 4.7 yards per carry during his three seasons.

As Cleveland Plain Dealer staffer Mary Kay Cabot reminded readers, a second-round pick of the Texans out of Auburn in 2010, he broke his ankle in preseason and sat out his rookie season. But he came back in 2011 and won the backup job to Arian Foster, rushing for 942 yards on 175 attempts for a 5.4-yard average -- third highest in the NFL. He also rushed for four touchdowns.

Plagued by lingering foot and hamstring injuries in 2012, Tate was limited to 279 yards on 65 carries, but still averaged a respectable 4.3 yards per carry. For comparison's sake, Richardson averaged 3.6 yards per carry in 2012 and 3.3 overall.

In 2013 Tate ran for 771 yards with four touchdowns, averaging 4.3 yards a carry -- despite playing with four broken ribs from Week 7 through Week 15 (when he was placed on injured reserve).

But he drew praise from interim coach Wade Phillips for playing in his next game after breaking the ribs, rushing for 81 yards on 22 carries in a loss to the Colts.

"He's a tough son of a gun -- I've had star players not play with broken ribs,' Philips told the Houston Chronicle.

Tate said last week that he's looking for a chance to step out of Foster's shadow and establish himself as a top five back in his own right.

"I think I can bring you an elite running back," Tate recently told Fox 26 in Houston. "I've learned a lot being behind [Foster]. Definitely, when I'm healthy I think I'm an elite running back in this league, and I feel like I can show my abilities and my numbers and my play will speak for itself, and guys will be able to see that I am a guy who is a top-five running back in this league, which I believe once I get out there and get to show that on a consistent basis."

According to NFL.com's Marc Sessler, Tate's most intriguing fit comes with scatback Dion Lewis, who displayed burst before landing on injured reserve in August with a fractured left fibula.

Sessler still expects the Browns to mine the draft for another young back, but Tate -- despite just 421 rushes over the past three seasons -- will be given the chance to serve as a bell-cow in new offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan's attack.

Shanahan was gone from Houston before Tate arrived but Tate’s running style should be a good fit for what Shanahan likes in the running game.

As Sessler summed up, "Everything we know about the Shanahan family's previous work with runners suggests Tate, if he stays on the field, will produce yardage in chunks along the shores of Lake Erie. .."

I'm on board with that notion.