Marlon Mack won’t be carrying the football for the Houston Texans anytime soon
The Houston Texans cut veteran running back Marlon Mack on Wednesday, and at least here the decision is a bit surprising. When Mack was signed this offseason, it had the feeling he’d at least make a full season with the team, but the fact is Mack didn’t even make it to Week 1.
It was posted on NFL.com Mack had been released by the Texans, which also means rookie Dameon Pierce will be the starting running back for Houston in the 2022 season opener on Sunday, Sept. 11 when the Texans host the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium.
Mack is still working on making a comeback to the player he once was in 2019, because in 2020 tore his Achilles, and played very little in ’21 all while with the Colts.
This preseason with the Texans Mark played well with 55 yards on 10 carries this past week against the San Francisco 49ers in the preseason finale. Mack didn’t play in the second preseason game, and in the preseason opener Mack had three carries for six yards, but his counterpart Pierce had an off-the-charts preseason, catching the eye of the coaching staff in Houston.
As the Toro Times said earlier this week, Pierce should be the starting running back, and with what seems to be the case, it makes one wonder why the Texans’ would release Mack as he would be a good backup to have on the team.
The rest of the running back depth for Houston seems to include Rex Burkhead as the second choice at the position, and from there the depth chart includes: Dare Ogunbowale and Royce Freeman, plus Tony Hairston at fullback.
Though Mack didn’t make the 53-man roster of the Texans, don’t be surprised if he makes it onto another roster soon, because there is still potential with Mack being a solid and productive player in the NFL, and one who can help an offense.
Unless Mack didn’t want to stay in Houston and playing behind Pierce and Burkhead, then it doesn’t make a lot of sense to release the veteran. That said, the positive in all of this is the potential with Pierce in the backfield is the most exciting running back news for Houston in quite some time.