Who Should I Start? Joe Mixon or Rhamondre Stevenson

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.

Thursday, June 20, 4:10 PM

New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson agreed to a four-year, $36 million contract extension on Thursday, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport. The deal includes $17 million guaranteed. While the team can get out of the deal early and less than half of it is guaranteed, this is still a sign that the organization views him as the clear leadback. The 26-year-old enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2022, racking up over 1,400 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns in 17 games. He was limited to just 12 games and 857 yards in 2023, but he should be healthy heading into his fourth pro season. While Antonio Gibson might get work behind him in the receiving game, both running backs could see plenty of targets given the weak group of pass-catchers Drake Maye and Jacoby Brissett have to work with. Stevenson is likely an underpriced RB2 for 2024.