Texans News: Are Expectations Too High for David Montgomery?
For the first time since his final season with the Chicago Bears in 2022, David Montgomery enters a season as the unquestioned leader of his team’s backfield. The Houston Texans acquired him in a March trade with the Detroit Lions, sending back a 2026 fourth-round pick, a 2027 seventh-round pick, and offensive lineman Juice Scruggs.
Houston needed the help. An offseason curveball last year in the form of Joe Mixon’s foot injury, an ailment that kept him out for the entire 2025 season, forced the Texans to piece together their backfield with veteran Nick Chubb and rookie Woody Marks. Neither proved especially effective for an offense built to protect leads, with Chubb still working his way back from a serious 2023 knee injury and Marks struggling with efficiency as a rookie thrust into a larger role than expected.
Montgomery, meanwhile, spent the past three seasons sharing Detroit’s backfield with Jahmyr Gibbs, one of the league’s premier young backs. Even in a diminished role, especially late in 2025 when his usage dropped off considerably, Montgomery remained an efficient, reliable option, particularly in short-yardage and goal-line work. That history of handling a heavy workload, paired with his continued receiving chops, gives him a real chance to push Marks into more of a traditional passing-down complement rather than a full timeshare partner.
Houston’s defense is also a factor working in Montgomery’s favor. A unit capable of creating positive game scripts should help keep the Texans out of the pass-heavy, catch-up situations that limited their run game a year ago. If that plays out, Montgomery could see the kind of workload he hasn’t had since his final year in Chicago.
There’s still risk here. Montgomery turned 29 this offseason, and his workload has trended downward for two straight seasons in Detroit. Whether he can handle a true three-down role deep into the year remains an open question, and Marks or a resurgent Chubb could still carve into his touches if efficiency becomes an issue.
Even accounting for that risk, Montgomery’s current price, going off the board as RB21, looks like fair value rather than an overreach. He won’t need to be a league-winner to justify that draft slot, just a steady, high-floor piece of an offense that finally has a clear plan at running back.
