Even without an NFL home as training camp approaches, Joe Mixon is still drawing real respect around the league.
That’s the takeaway from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, whose annual ranking of the NFL’s top running backs is built from votes by league executives, coaches and scouts. Mixon didn’t make the top 10, but he did land as an honorable mention, a sign that plenty of people inside the league still see him as a high-end back despite the uncertainty around his future.
Fowler laid out why Mixon stayed in the mix: "Mixon's 2024 debut season with the Texans was one of the best of his career. However, he missed all of 2025 with a foot injury and was released by Houston this March. He's still unsigned as of July 17, as rookies begin to arrive to some training camps."
That Houston debut is the big reason Mixon’s name still carries weight. After coming over in a trade from the Cincinnati Bengals, he quickly became the focal point of the Texans’ ground game and turned in one of the most productive seasons of his career.
He gave Houston steadiness between the tackles, popped explosive runs when the chance was there, and brought a veteran presence that fit alongside quarterback C.J. Stroud.
For the Texans, his production helped keep the offense balanced across the 2024 season and showed why the team made the move to bring him in. When he was healthy, Mixon still looked like the same runner who had spent nearly a decade building a reputation on vision, contact balance and a physical style.
Then the foot injury changed everything. It kept him out for all of 2025, shutting down any chance to build on that strong first year in Houston. The Texans eventually went in another direction this offseason, releasing the veteran as they reworked their backfield.
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