Texans Beat: A look at the RB situation if David Johnson (concussion) is out

Nov 09, 2020

If David Johnson’s concussion keeps him out of the Texans’ upcoming road game against the Browns, it’ll be worth watching who Houston’s No. 2 running back is. Buddy Howell, a primarily special teams player, appeared on offense for five snaps Sunday, and there was a fumble on the exchange of the lone running play called for him.

Running backs coach Danny Barrett previously said if one of the Johnsons went down, practice squad back Scottie Phillips, an undrafted rookie out of Mississippi, would receive carries. This could be a good chance for the Texans to evaluate him before heading into an offseason in which they’re likely to make a change or two at running back because both Johnsons have hefty cap hits with minimal or no guaranteed money attached to their contracts.

Related players: Duke Johnson

Fantasy Impact:

The story said on Sunday, Duke Johnson recorded 73 yards and a rushing touchdown on a career-high 20 touches. He wasn’t efficient on the ground, averaging just 2.6 YPC on 16 rushing attempts, but that might be more of an indictment of the Texans’ scheme and blocking than him. The author added there were at least five plays when Duke Johnson, who finished near the top of Pro Football Focus’ elusiveness rating last year, bounced off a tackle or made a guy miss in the backfield to gain at least a few yards. Those are the sort of plays that David Johnson doesn’t make and instead loses yards. Our John Paulsen has said all along he feels Duke Johnson has the ability to be a primary ball carrier, if David is out this week, Duke may get a chance in Week 10, but it looks like Phillips could be a factor as well.

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Ravens RB Keaton Mitchell (knee) has chance to play Week 10

CBS Sports

50 minutes ago

Head coach John Harbaugh told reporters Monday that Keaton Mitchell (knee) has a chance to play in Thursday night's matchup against the Bengals, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reports.

Related players: Derrick Henry, Justice Hill

Fantasy Impact:

Mitchell tore his ACL in Week 15 last year but has been practicing fully since last week. He didn't play in Week 9 but could get the call in Week 10. We all remember how explosive Mitchell was last year and eventually had stand-alone fantasy value despite not being a bell cow type back. He probably won't be that this season either with Henry leading the way and Hill also showing he's productive. Mitchell will also likely be eased back in the lineup at least to start, but at some point Mitchell could perhaps take over Hill's workload if he can prove to be as dynamic as he was a year ago.

NFL flexes Bengals-Chargers to prime time in Week 11

Pro Football Talk

1 hour ago

The league has flexed the Super Bowl III rematch between the Colts and Jets out of prime-time in Week 11. Taking its place will be Bengals-Chargers.

Fantasy Impact:

The Colts at the Jets game is now an early game that Sunday with Bengals-Chargers moving to the Sunday night game.

Bills WR Amari Cooper (wrist) day to day

Sal Capaccio on X

1 hour ago

WR Amari Cooper, CB Christian Benford and FB Reggie Gilliam are all considered day-to-day, according to Bills head coach Sean McDermott.

Fantasy Impact:

It was a surprise that Cooper was inactive leading up to Week 9. Cooper did log limited sessions last week, so owners will want to pay close attention to this week's practice reports to see if Cooper can get in a full session. The good news for owners is Cooper and the Bills play an early Sunday game at the Colts, so owners should know in plenty of time to adjust their lineups based on Coopers game status.