Joe Mixon Week 1 Outlook - Texans at Colts

By Derek Brown (FantasyPros), Wed, Sep 4th 2024, 8:38pm EDT

Last year, Mixon was the RB11 in fantasy, ranking eighth in snap share, third in opportunity share, and seventh in weighted opportunities. Among 49 qualifying backs, he ranked 23rd in missed tackles forced per attempt, 37th in yards after contact per attempt, and 10th in zone run success rate. Mixon was also 20th in target share and 26th in YPRR among 48 qualifying backs last season. Mixon should see a bump to his zone rushing rate this season. Last year, Cincy utilized zone for 39.2% of their rushing plays versus Houston's 45.9% rate. The bump in zone rushing won't help him this week against Indy. Last year, Indy allowed the ninth-most rushing yards per game with the ninth-lowest stuff rate, but gap runs gashed them. They held fast against zone with the seventh-lowest success rate and yards per carry allowed. Mixon, with his every-down workload, should be able to take advantage of their weakness against receiving backs, though. Indy allowed the eighth-most receptions and fourth-most receiving yards to backs last year. Anyway, you slice it, Mixon is a strong volume play in Week 1.