Ezekiel Elliot makes sense if the Houston Texans aren't going to draft a running back

The Houston Texans running game shouldn't be seen as a finished product. Not yet, anyway. The Texans made the bold move to trade for Joe Mixon, a running back some believe is on the downside of his career, and despite that, got a nice new contract. Mixon's arrival in Houston may not be bad at all, but the team will still need to upgrade the offensive line if they hope to feature the back more.

Mixon could turn out to be good for the Texans but he may struggle, and the Texans may be wise to bring in another back looking to prove his worth. Enter Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott, a long-time Dallas Cowboys running back, is someone the Texans would be wise to consider. He's about the same age and size as Mixon but has a better track record of scoring touchdowns when in close to the Red Zone than Mixon.

Elliott may not be a featured back anymore, but it'd be fair to say Mixon never truly was, and if both men are down to just 75% of what they used to be, which it looks like they are, then you need to bring in a second option anyway.

The Texans still have Dameon Pierce, but it's possible he'll get cut at some point in the offseason. If he does get cut then the Texans are going to need another back who can carry the load regardless, and Elliott seems properly motivated to return to form. His last two years weren't great, but he's still only 28 as of press time. So it's possible he has a bounce-back year still, even if it's not likely.

Elliott may not be better than Mixon anymore (he also may be), but what we're confident in saying is that he's better than Pierce. So even if the idea isn't to cut Pierce, the Texans would still be smart to bring in Elliott to push Pierce to prove he's deserving of sticking around as the team's number two running back.