An ankle injury suffered by Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon forced him to miss practice all week, putting him in jeopardy of missing Week 3.
What is his playing status for Sunday’s game? If he is unable to go, are there any players on the Texans’ running back depth chart that fantasy football managers should consider?
Will Joe Mixon Be Active in Week 3?
Mixon injured his ankle last week against the Chicago Bears on what many believed to be an illegal hip-drop tackle. In his first season with the Texans after seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, Mixon missed practice all week and was listed as doubtful in Friday’s final injury report.
The NFL fined #Bears LB T.J. Edwards $16,883 for unnecessary roughness — a hip-drop tackle that injured #Texans RB Joe Mixon last week.pic.twitter.com/6e6F1UyuWG
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 21, 2024
But on Saturday, Mixon was officially ruled out for the Week 3 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
This is a tough loss for the Texans, as Mixon was off to a spectacular start in Houston. In Week 1, he rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Indianapolis Colts. And although at the time of his injury last week, he was held in check on the ground — 25 yards on nine carries — he was a factor in the passing game, with 25 yards on three receptions.
From a fantasy standpoint, his production will not be easy to replace. Mixon had 26.8 fantasy points in Week 1, his second-highest fantasy output since the start of last season. And he had averaged at least 14 fantasy points per game over each of his previous six seasons.
Potential Fantasy Options With Mixon Out
Adding to the woes for the Texans at the running back position is backup Dameon Pierce being ruled out on Friday with a hamstring injury.
For fantasy managers, this means if they want to pick a running back from the Texans to replace Mixon, Cam Akers and Dare Ogunbowale are probably the best options.
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Akers provides the most potential for success of the two. He rushed for 32 yards on just seven carries last week, but he also suffered a lost fumble against the Bears.
Never a major option in fantasy, Akers has shown flashes of excellence that, on a roster loaded with offensive talent, could reappear on Sunday.
Just two seasons ago in 2022, Akers had a stretch with the Los Angeles Rams in which he compiled at least 13 fantasy points in five of his final six games. He also rushed for 100 yards in each of his last three games that season.
As for Ogunbowale, his value to fantasy managers lies in his ability to catch passes out of the backfield. In his career, he has more receiving yards (599) than rushing yards (460).
But in 14 games over the last two seasons, Ogunbowale has a combined total of 10 rush attempts.
So if any fantasy managers are digging in the waiver wire for options out of Houston, Akers appears to be the way to look.
The Texans will likely not completely abandon the running game, so Akers should at least have opportunities to be productive.
Stats in this article are from TruMedia unless otherwise stated