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Is Joe Mixon out for the season? Read the latest Joe Mixon fantasy football outlook and injury update for 2025. Dan Fornek breaks down whether Mixon should be drafted.
Injuries are an unfortunate part of fantasy football. Given the physical nature of the game, a player can go down with a season-changing injury at any time. Being able to navigate those pitfalls is key to winning a fantasy championship.
There are plenty of ways to handle preseason injuries. Some fantasy managers avoid drafting injured players altogether, given how frequently players get hurt. Others lean into the uncertainty of an injury and get a discount on players. Both strategies have their pluses and minuses.
One player who is entering 2025 with an injury is the Houston Texans’ running back Joe Mixon. There is plenty of uncertainty around his injury and his return timeline heading into the 2025 season that could cloud his ability to provide fantasy points. Will Joe Mixon play in 2025? Read below to find out.
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Is Joe Mixon Out for the 2025 Season?
Joe Mixon was pretty much the only thing that went right for the Houston Texans in 2024. Mixon played in 14 games, carrying the ball 245 times for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns while adding 36 receptions for 309 yards and a touchdown. The veteran running back was a true workhorse in his first season in Houston despite having a poor offensive line in front of him.
Joe Mixon had almost 100 yards on Wham pic.twitter.com/vIMhzkrRz9
— Coach Dan Casey (@CoachDanCasey) October 18, 2024
There was plenty of excitement for Mixon entering 2025. The Texans made several additions to the offensive line in free agency and the draft. While none of those additions were especially meaningful, they were all players who could hopefully upgrade the talent of the offensive line. That, combined with a new offensive coordinator, led many to hope for an even better season from the veteran running back.
Additionally, the Texans didn’t make a big move at running back either, signing veteran Nick Chubb (coming off his own injury issues) and drafting Woody Marks in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. By all accounts, Mixon was set to see a similar workload that led to an RB8 finish in fantasy in 2024 (17.2 PPG).
Instead, Mixon missed the entire summer with an ambiguous ankle injury. There was hope at the start of the summer that Mixon could return for training camp and be ready for Week 1. However, that never came to fruition, leading the team to place him on the non-football injury (NFI) list to start the season.
Joe Mixon 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook
At this point, we have not gotten any clarity on the type or severity of the injury that Mixon suffered, but we do know he will miss at least four games to start the season. When Houston’s GM was asked when Mixon would return, he was non-committal and answered that the team is taking the injury “one day at a time”. Rumors have also circulated on the internet that Mixon isn’t expected to play at all during the 2025 season.
At this point, we just don’t have enough information on the nature and severity of Mixon’s injury to plant a flag on his availability in 2025. He could miss just four weeks and be ready to play in Week 5. He could also be held out for the entire season as he tries to heal. No outcome can be ruled out at this moment, given the limited knowledge we have of his injury.
That said, fantasy managers have three realistic courses of action they can take in handling Mixon:
1. You can read the tea leaves of his injury and take him off your draft board completely.
2. You can lean into the uncertainty and draft a player who was good in 2024 in the later rounds (and ideally stash him on your IR spot).
3. You can draft him (without IR spots) and hope the four weeks is enough for him to get up to speed.
Personally, Mixon has been a fade for the entire offseason. The fact that nobody on the team can give any clarity on his injury or return timeline is not something that needs to be dealt with, especially given how deep running back is this season, thanks to a strong crop of rookies. If you’ve already drafted him, the best you can hope for is a return to action in a minimal amount of time.
Who Should I Draft Tool
Not sure who to draft? Check out the Who Should I Draft tool:
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Who Should I Draft? Some common 2025 fantasy football draft decisions are regarding players like Joe Mixon. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning teams in 2025. Draft your optimal fantasy football teams for 2025. Our free Who Should I Draft? tool will help make your fantasy football draft decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to draft... all free! Make the right decisions.
2025 Player Decisions. Today's focus in on specific players - Joe Mixon. These are some common searches for 2025 fantasy football drafts.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Draft? button to see who the recommended draft picks are based on fantasy football rankings, projections and more.
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How It Works. Our RotoBaller staff puts together their preseason fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research, and update it constantly throughout the preseason. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players that are ranked.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Draft Searches. Curious to see some tough draft decisions for 2025? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Draft? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Draft
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Draft tool for 2025 drafts for Joe Mixon:
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