The Texans made some roster moves Wednesday, notably with Joe Mixon (ankle) being placed on the NFI list, along with with fellow Houston running back Dameon Pierce. Mixon dealt with ankle injury this spring, and even spent time in a walking boot. The running back will miss the start of training camp, and if Mixon isn’t activated off the NFI list by final roster cuts in late August, he will be forced to miss the first four games of the season.
Mixon is coming off the second Pro Bowl season of his career. In his 14 games with the Texans, the 28-year-old rushed for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns, and he caught 36 passes for 306 yards and one touchdown. While logging 62% of the snaps, Mixon averaged 17.5 carries per game. This was 66.9% of the carries for Houston, which was the fifth-highest rush share for a running back in the NFL. He was incredibly effective when healthy.
With Mixon and Pierce being moved to the NFI list, newly signed veteran Nick Chubb should operate as the Texans’ top back to begin training camp and if Mixon were to miss any games to begin the regular season, Chubb would be in line for a sizable workload for this Houston backfield. That being said, Mixon missing any games seems unlikely, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Mixon is “expected to be OK fairly soon”.
Let’s dive into what Chubb’s fantasy outlook should be in this Houston backfield.
Nick Chubb’s 2025 fantasy football outlook
Even if Chubb did get a significant opportunity, he is on the heels of a very poor season with the Browns. The days of him being an effective rusher seem to be behind the former Pro Bowler. Chubb has dealt with major knee and foot injuries over the last few years, and, in his eight games with Cleveland last season, Chubb only rushed for 332 yards and three touchdowns on 102 carries. Furthermore, he was a complete non factor in the passing game, with five catches for 31 yards and one touchdown.
The 29-year-old averaged a career-low 3.3 YPC, which was the seventh-worst among the running backs who saw at least 50 carries and Chubb only eclipsed 50 scrimmage yards twice in his eight games. Fantasy wise, Chubb was lackluster, averaging 0.28 FPTS per snap and 8.0 FPTS per game.
While this may seem like a time to put Chubb on your radar for fantasy drafts this summer, avoiding the aging veteran is the right call. Chubb is currently the 173rd ranked player for Best Ball contests on DraftKings and taking a chance on a younger running back who has more upside is wise move this late in drafts.
Given Chubb’s struggles and that Mixon is likely to be ready for the start of the season, targeting Mixon for over 875.5 rushing yards (-105) on DraftKings Sportsbook makes a ton of sense. As previously mentioned, Mixon rushed for 1,016 yards as true workhorse for the Texans last season, which is the fifth time in his last seven seasons that Mixon has rushed for over 1,000 yards.
