Fantasy Football fallout: Joe Mixon set to miss at least the first four games of 2025; how to draft Texans RBs

The Texans announced Monday that Joe Mixon (foot/ankle) will be placed on the reserve/non-football injury list, which means he will miss at least the first four games of the season. This is obviously bad news for Mixon's Fantasy value, and Nick Chubb could play a prominent role in Houston this year.

Since there's no guarantee Mixon will return in Week 5 -- the Texans have a bye in Week 6 -- the earliest you should consider drafting Mixon is Round 10, but only if you have an IR spot to stash him. Otherwise, he's just a late-round flier in most formats.

Mixon has been battling this injury since long before training camp, and he hasn't practiced at all in training camp. His Average Draft Position on CBS Sports as of Monday was Round 6, but that was too expensive for me. The earliest I was willing to draft Mixon before Monday was Round 9.

It stinks that Mixon, 29, is injured because he was excellent in 2024 in his first year with the Texans. He averaged 17.2 PPR points per game and was a workhorse with an average of more than 20 total touches per game.

We'll see what Mixon looks like when healthy, and hopefully he can finish the season strong. But when he returns to action he could be in a committee with Chubb and some combination of Dameon Pierce, Woody Marks or Dare Ogunbowale.

Those are the running backs who will play for the Texans in place of Mixon, with Chubb expected to start. Chubb now has some sleeper appeal, but the earliest I would draft him is Round 9.

Chubb, 29, is coming off a broken foot in 2024 with Cleveland, one year after he suffered a major knee injury in 2023. We'll see what he has to offer, but his 3.3 yards per carry last year was a career low. And Chubb never topped 60 total yards in a single game in 2024, despite seeing at least 16 touches in three games.

Most likely, we'll see Chubb in a committee with Pierce and potentially Marks or Ogunbowale. Pierce has been getting first-team reps in tandem with Chubb, and maybe an expanded role this season could help Pierce re-create his rookie magic from 2022.

That season, Pierce was a nice surprise for Fantasy managers when he averaged 12.8 PPR points per game. He didn't play much in 2024 because of Mixon, but Pierce is worth a late-round flier now in deeper leagues with Mixon hurt.

I'd love to see Marks get an extended look, and the rookie from USC could have the most upside of this backfield with Mixon out. The Texans selected Marks in the fourth round of the NFL Draft and traded a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick to move up for him, which will hopefully pay dividends.

Marks led Mississippi State in rushing yards during the 2022 and 2023 seasons before heading to USC for his fifth year. In 2024 at USC, he had 1,133 yards and nine touchdowns along with 47 receptions for 321 yards. He could be a nice surprise with a late-round flier in deeper leagues.

As for Ogunbowale, he could have a role on passing downs. Last year, Mixon missed three games early in the season with an ankle injury, and Ogunbowale had two outings with at least 14.7 PPR points, mostly on the strength of 10 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets in those two outings. I don't plan on drafting Ogunbowale in any leagues, but he could emerge as a waiver-wire option if he's catching enough passes, especially the longer Mixon is out.