Who Should I Start? Joe Mixon or Gus Edwards

Monday, July 22, 1:23 PM

Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon (undisclosed) has been held out of training camp practice the last few days, but head coach DeMeco Ryans said Mixon "will be fine." "I'm not worried out Joe." It's not a long-term injury for the 27-year-old, so he should be 100 percent in plenty of time for the start of the 2024 regular season this fall. Mixon's absence will give Dameon Pierce and Dare Ogunbowale, among others, more reps early in training camp in Houston's backfield. When healthy, the former Bengals RB will be the Texans' clear lead back in 2024. "Workhorse. He's an absolute workhorse, in every regard," offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik recently said of Mixon. He's joining an offense on the rise, but Mixon is probably going to need to be much more efficient as a runner than he was last year in order to finish as a top-12 fantasy back in his first year in Houston.

Wednesday, July 24, 10:00 PM

After working on the side during June's minicamp, Gus Edwards was seen working out in full uniform and going through individual drills during training camp on Wednesday along with J.K. Dobbins. Edwards was reported to have had an offseason procedure, but it looks like Edwards will increase his work as camp continues. Both Edwards and Dobbins will jockey for touches in a competitive backfield along with rookie Kimani Vidal and veteran Isaiah Spiller. Edwards should have a leg up on the group as an early-down back and also receiving goal-line work, while Dobbins' Achilles injury recovery will likely be handled more cautiously by the team. It's looking like Edwards is a mid-round value RB3 for fantasy managers in 2024, while Dobbins' status throughout training camp should be closely monitored.