There’s certainly no way around the fact that the potential early-season loss of running back Joe Mixon is a significant blow to a Houston Texans offense that is now under the control of first-year offensive coordinator Nick Caley. But what Houston has that many teams don’t is a former All-Pro hanging out on the second team side of the depth chart.
Sure, former Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb may be three years, two torn knee ligaments and one broken ankle removed from his 2022 All-Pro campaign, but either way, there’s All-Pro pedigree somewhere inside of the bowling ball back who arrived in Houston only a month and a half ago.
As far as first impressions go, Chubb has used this unexpected opening to make a great one on Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans.
“It’s only my fourth day with Nick and he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do,” Ryans said after practice on July 25, per Jared Koch of Sports Illustrated. “He’s a pro. I’ve always admired Nick from when he was back at Georgia playing; always admired him. I can see why the guy’s been good in his career. He’s a hard worker; he doesn’t say much, but he shows you by his actions. Every single day, he shows up, he’s ready to go.”
You don’t need me to tell you that an impressive four days at camp is not the same thing as an impressive four months of the regular season. Chubb will be 30 years old by the time the 2025 season ends. Dating back to his time at Georgia, he’s had three season-ending injuries. Houston wouldn’t be wise to assume that this will be Chubb’s first full season in three years.
Nick Chubb Joined Texans With Joe Mixon Tandem in Mind
Not long after Nick Chubb made the decision to sign with the Texans in early June, he made it clear that Mixon, the incumbent starter who was coming off of his fifth career 1,000 yard season, was part of the calculus that helped him decide on Houston.
“We’ll be great together. He’s a bigger guy, tall, explosive, he runs super hard and I do the same thing. So doing that back-to-back will make it hard for defenses, “Chubb said of Mixon, according to Cole Thompson of Texans Wire. “I played against him twice a year. And I was always afraid he would take over the game with his ability. You know, he runs super hard. And so, I think both of us have the same intangibles. It’ll be tough for defense to stop.”
Mixon, like Chubb, was a bell-cow back for seven years in the rough and rugged AFC North. Unlike Chubb, though, Mixon had the sort of success in Cincinnati that the Texans are aiming for ahead of the 2025 NFL season.
Will Texans Emerge as Super Bowl Contender in 2025?
For just the second time in franchise history, the Houston Texans will enter a new season following a pair of appearances in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. By results alone, making the final four in the AFC two years straight, you could characterize the Texans as a fringe Super Bowl contender. But 2025 is a season in which some believe Houston could shed that “fringe” label for good.
In July it’s easy for every team to say that the goal is to win the Super Bowl. It’ll be at least another two months before that dream could be rendered mathematically impossible. But in Houston, statements like the one Will Anderson Jr. delivered above isn’t just a guy saying something exciting enough that his fan base could rally behind it.
It’s a legitimate mission statement that could end up being realized in just six month’s time.
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