Slaton, who had talked to several NFL teams, went to the Texans with their first pick in the third round. The junior will face a deep roster of backs when he goes to Houston's camp.
The Texans currently list Arliss Beach (2nd year), Chris Brown (6th year), Ron Dayne (9th year), Ahman Green (11th year), Chris Taylor (2nd year), and Darius Walker (1st year), at the running back position.
Slaton, who measured in a five feet nine inches and 197 pounds at the NFL combine, rushed for 3,923 yards during his collegiate career at WVU. That put him third on the school's all-time rushing list. Slaton chose to skip his final year of eligibility to play in the pros.
Slaton has received mixed reviews on his durability and aspects of his on-field decision making, which dropped him from a possible second round pick to this position. The Texans obtained this pick via trade from Jacksonville through Baltimore.