Nick Chubb is excited to call Joe Mixon a teammate in Houston.
After watching his career revival last season as the Houston Texans’ lead running back, who wouldn’t be excited to see similar results after a lost campaign in Cleveland?
Chubb, who inked a one-year deal worth $2.5 million earlier this week, will likely serve as the secondary runner behind Mixon to begin his career. Mixon is expected to be fully healthy by the time the season rolls around, but he missed three games during the 2024 regular season, meaning Chubb could see significant reps.
After averaging 3.3 yards per play last season in eight games, Chubb is just looking to get back to a stable situation. Splitting carries with an option coming off a 1,000-yard campaign on a championship-caliber team might be a way to help the former Pro Bowler regain his confidence.
“I think we’re great together,” Chubb said of Mixon during Texans minicamp Wednesday. “He’s a bigger guy. You know, tall, explosive, he runs super hard, and I do the same thing. So, I think it’ll be us, kind of doing it back-to-back against other defenses.”
Chubb, a 2018 second-round pick out of Georgia, ranks third on the Browns‘ career rushing list (6,843 yards) after spending the first seven years of his career in Cleveland. Much like the four-time Pro Bowler in the other major city of Ohio, Mixon spent seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, helping them reach the Super Bowl in 2021.
Not only did Chubb remember Mixon from his time in Cincinnati, but the two were in the same recruiting class back in 2014, where at one point, he thought they’d be teammates.
“He should have come to Georgia, by the way. He went to Cincinnati. I played against him twice a year. And I was always afraid he would take over the game with his ability. You know, he runs super hard. And so, I think both of us have the same intangibles. It’ll be tough for defense to stop.”
The Texans open the