After an earlier piece where I laid out some of the in-house options for the Houston Texans and their depth issues at running back, it got me to thinking. What if the Texans just took the plunge and went with second-year rusher Woody Marks as the full-time RB1 even when David Montgomery comes back from his groin injury?
Hear me out: Last season, Marks finished with 703 rushing yards and six total touchdowns (3 rushing, 3 passing across regular and postseason play) in spite of being declared the de facto RB1 in week 10. According to some calculations (thanks public school education) Marks mathematically could've (and most likely would've) ended up as a 1,000-plus-yard rusher with as many as 10-plus total scores had he been given the reigns as Houston's leading rusher to open the 2025 season.
Without Montgomery available to receive 10-15 carres in front of him on Sundays, what's to stop Marks from having an even better campaign with three more starts' worth of production to supplement him?
The case for the Houston Texans to go all-in on Woody Marks as RB1 even after David Montgomery returns from injury
Statistical advantage through five weeks
For starters, Marks has been the better statistical option for the Texans through five weeks of NFL play. He has more yards (149 to Montgomery's 138), averages more yards per carry (3.5 to Montgomery's 2.7), has an equal amount of touchdowns (2) and even has a 13.4 rushing EPA advantage over Montgomery (-6.3 to Montgomery's -19.7). All things considered, Marks has been the more productive runner with the same problematic offensive line situation.
Marks has been the more physical runner
While this next section about physicality is not me trying to allege that Marks is a "tougher" player/man than Montgomery, it is me saying that Marks has survived more contact as a rusher than Montgomery through the first five games. Marks has more rushing yards after contact than Montgomery does, winning the battle 132 to 116.
It's not much, but the eye-test and data both shows at least a pattern of performance that would suggest that Marks is the sturdier rusher when defenders are able to get their hands on either player in the backfield. All tackling situations aren't made equal, but I'd go with Marks as the more elusive runner in a 4th & short situation right now over any other back on the Texans' roster.
Marks is more prepared to be a dual-threat option
In offensive coordinator Nick Caley's scheme, much of the vision for the offense involves skill position players having as much versatility as possible on a down-by-down basis. By that definition alone, Marks is the better fit in Houston's backfield as the long-term RB1 in 2026.
Montgomery having only four receiving touchdowns (five total happening in week one against the Buffalo Bills) throughout his previous seven-year career thus far is not all on him, as various schemes also haven't made it a priority to ask him to be available in that capacity. However, a part of Marks' appeal out of USC (and Mississippi State before that) was his proficiency as a dual-threat option out of the backfield.
In five years as a collegiate running back, Marks totaled 4,562 yards from scrimmage (5.2 avg), along with 36 total touchdowns. That gave him the ninth-most scrimmage yards in all of college from 2020-2024. That kind of production is of vital importance to an offense that prioritizes players that can have an impact in a variety of ways (including special teams).
With everything being considered, even though Houston might have to revisit the conversation later on down the road, I just think that Montgomery's injury situation might just give Houston the push it needs to allow Marks the complete freedom to showcase a much broader effectiveness of his arsenal as the offical full-time starting back. Time will tell though how comfortable the Texans are with actually letting that happen.
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