Who Should I Start? Joe Mixon or Tyjae Spears

Thursday, November 20, 12:34 PM

Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon (ankle, foot) is not expected to play this season as he deals with a foot injury from the offseason, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Mixon will likely stay on the Physically Unable to Perform list through the end of the 2025 season, while the Texans move forward with veteran Nick Chubb and rookie Woody Marks in their backfield. Things had been trending this way for a while, as the Texans haven't been giving any real updates on Mixon for pretty much the entire season. Fantasy managers who are still stashing the 29-year-old in redraft leagues should send him to the waiver wire now. Mixon's injury dates all the way back to spring workouts. One would think he'd be ready for the start of the 2026 campaign, but there has been little information about the exact nature of his injury. Marks, a fourth-rounder in April, has slowly started to see more work and should be the backfield leader over Chubb by the end of the year.

Tuesday, November 25, 9:34 AM

Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears continued to share time in the backfield in Week 12's matchup with the Seahawks. He only had three carries for four yards, compared to Tony Pollard's 11 carries for 20 yards. Each running back also posted exactly four catches on five targets for 21 yards. While Pollard got more work this week, Spears played 43% of snaps and remains in almost an even snap share. If he can get going in any week, he'll likely end up with over 50% of snaps, as he did in Week 8 and Week 11. His best game of the year was Week 8 against Indianapolis, when he had nine carries for 59 yards and his only touchdown of the season. Spears is getting enough work to still be a deep-league flex play from the waiver wire, although he has tough running back matchups against the Jaguars and Browns the next two weeks.