Who Should I Start? Nick Chubb or Elijah Mitchell

Sunday, January 4, 11:44 AM

Houston Texans running back Nick Chubb is a healthy scratch for Sunday's game against the division-rival Indianapolis Colts in the Week 18 regular-season finale. Chubb played only five offensive snaps and handled one carry for one yard in rookie Woody Marks' return in the Week 17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers last Saturday. Even rookie Jawhar Jordan had more snaps than Chubb, and now the veteran back will be inactive in a game in which the Texans must win to have a chance at winning the AFC South division. In the previous three games, the 30-year-old Chubb has just eight rushing attempts and one catch for 46 scrimmage yards. He is falling out of favor in Houston's backfield as the playoffs approach next week. Chubb has lacked explosiveness in his first year with the Texans and is averaging 4.1 yards per carry with only three rushing TDs on 122 rush attempts.

Tuesday, December 23, 11:37 PM

The New England Patriots signed veteran free-agent running back Elijah Mitchell to their practice squad on Tuesday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Mitchell quickly latches on with another team after the Kansas City Chiefs waived him last weekend. Patriots rookie RB TreVeyon Henderson suffered a concussion in Sunday night's win over the Baltimore Ravens and is in danger of missing the Week 17 game against the New York Jets, so the Pats will bring in Mitchell to give the team more RB depth at the end of the regular season. If Henderson doesn't clear the league's concussion protocol by this Sunday, Mitchell could be elevated to the active 53-man roster to serve as the RB3 behind Rhamondre Stevenson and D'Ernest Johnson. Unless Stevenson also misses time with an injury, Mitchell is unlikely to become a major contributor in New England's offense. He was active for just one game with KC this year and didn't have a single rushing attempt.