The 2024 NFL offseason was a busy one for the Houston Texans, as the team spent big on players like Stefon Diggs and Danielle Hunter.
The pocketbooks were a little quieter in 2025, but Houston still made a handful of moves. One of them — trading for Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson — has a chance to really take the defensive secondary to the next level.
Another trade — this time for Jaguars wide receiver Christian Kirk — has a chance to really bolster the Texans passing attack.
But there's one big name who joined the Texans this offseason who is set to disappoint Texans fans after he fails to live up to expectations: running back Nick Chubb.
Nick Chubb is a risky acquisition for the Texans
The history of the Houston Texans is filled with failed additions of veteran offensive talents.
One of the most notorious of these moves came in 2007, when the team signed Ahman Green, who was fresh off a 1,000-yard season with the Packers.
Green spent two seasons in Houston, playing in 14 games and rushing for just 554 yards. Signing a veteran back with a concerning injury history who was on the wrong side of 30 turned out to be a bad idea.
That's likely going to be the case for Chubb as well. Technically still on the right side of 30 since he won't hit that age until late December, Chubb was one of the NFL's best running backs through the 2022 season, but he devastating knee injury in 2023 followed by a broken foot at the end of 2024 have him in a much rougher spot now.
Chubb certainly didn't look like himself last season. In eight games, Chubb ran the ball 102 times for 332 yards and three touchdowns. He set career lows in a number of categories. Not counting the two games he played in 2023, Chubb's 2024 marks in yards, touchdowns, success rate, yards per carry and yards per game were all the worst of his NFL career.
This is a guy whose whole thing was that he was a physical runner who wouldn't go down. His career 5.1 yards per carry rank ninth all-time among NFL players, and he was top 10 in yards per carry in all of his first five seasons despite his high usage.
But 2024 saw Chubb finish with just 3.3 yards per carry as he worked his way back from the knee injury. Further complicating things is that now he's also having to come back from a broken foot.
Chubb's a big name, but Texans fans need to temper expectations. There's a very good chance that Chubb is done as a productive NFL running back.
The good news is that this time, Houston has options. This isn't like Ahman Green being brought in to lead the backfield and the team having no choice but to end up with Ron Dayne as its lead back when Green didn't work out. Houston has Joe Mixon in the backfield, so if Chubb is a bust, it's not really a big deal for this team.
Still, fans want to see the Nick Chubb out there on the field. They want the excitement of watching someone who has been one of the league's best pure runners for the last half-decade. Unfortunately, there's a very low chance that Houston actually gets that player.