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Houston Texans: Chris Ivory would be a good complement to Duke Johnson

By Brian K. Patterson

Free agent running back Chris Ivory, a guy the Houston Texans should target. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
Free agent running back Chris Ivory, a guy the Houston Texans should target. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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The Houston Texans need an option at running back with the loss of Lamar Miller and Chris Ivory would be a nice complement to Duke Johnson. Why?

The Houston Texans are in a crisis situation with the loss of Lamar Miller for the season.  This is a position that needs to be addressed quickly with about two weeks to go before the season starts.

Duke Johnson was signed a few weeks back to help out the running game but he’s simply not going to be enough for the attack that the Houston Texans need to make on the ground.  I’ve always seen Duke Johnson as a great complementary piece rather than being the guy but because of the circumstances, Bill O’Brien may have no choice but to elevate Johnson’s role with the team.

Outside of Duke, the Houston Texans have backs with little experience but I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Karan Higdon, Damarea Crockett and Josh Ferguson so far.

They all won’t make the team anyway but none of them are prepared for the elevated role that they’d assume since Miller is no longer available.

The Houston Texans need to make a move — and fast — to bring somebody in here with some experience and help the ground game out.

I talked about how the team should take a flyer on Jay Ajayi or making a play to trade for Melvin Gordon but there is a solid, cost-effective option that’s still available.

I’m talking about 31-year-old Chris Ivory — the infamous back that starred with the New Orleans Saints early in his career but has spent the past few seasons bouncing around the league with stops with the New York Jets (his most eventful), Jacksonville Jaguars and, most recently, the Buffalo Bills.

There’s probably a reason for that, likely because he’s past the 30-year-old mark with his age last season but I think he’d be a solid, cost-effective stopgap in this system.

Nonetheless, I still think he’s still capable of carrying a large workload and I’m sure he’d jump off

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the couch if the Houston Texans were to give him a call.

Pro Football Focus gave him a 74.1 offensive and 76.3 run grade in 2018.  That’s still

impressive production considering his age and I think the Houston Texans could squeeze one more season out of him.

Ivory was still among the Top 50 of running backs in two key PFF categories:  he was 35th in elusive rating (41.8) and 39th in breakaway percentage (23.4) among running backs with at least 60 snaps.

With that being said, it’s time that O’Brien pick up the phone to reach Ivory’s agent so that way he can get a workout and deal brokered.

We’ll have to keep an eye on what the Houston Texans will do but it’s going to be interesting!

Next. Texans: The assets the team should give up for Melvin Gordon. dark

Ivory rushed 115 times for 385 yards and one touchdown — 3.3 yards per attempt — through 13 games — one start — last season.  He also was targeted 21 times as a pass-catcher, hauling in 13 balls for 205 yards and a 61.9 percent catch rate.

For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe to PFF’s EDGE and ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.

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