If there's one legitimate cause for concern for the Houston Texans moving forward this season, it's that through 14 games Houston ranks 23rd in rushing yards and 26th in yards per rush. For a team that's built to win games on the strength of its defense, not being able to confidently close out games on the ground is a problem worth solving.
The conundrum that the Texans find themselves in is that every possible solution on their roster provides hope that is presently more theoretical than literal. Consider, we're talking about a running back room that includes a veteran who has had a myriad of season-ending injuries dating back to his time in college (Nick Chubb), another veteran who has predominantly contributed to special teams throughout his career (Dare Ogunbowale), and a pair of backs who hadn't logged an NFL carry prior to the start of the 2025 season (Woody Marks and Jawhar Jordan).
And to make matters worse, as the Week 16 of the NFL season is fast-approaching, this entire running back room seems to be in flux.
On Wednesday, Woody Marks missed another practice thanks to the ankle injury he sustained in last Sunday's win over the Arizona Cardinals, leaving Nick Chubb and Jawhar Jordan to handle a 50/50 split of first team carries during Houston's practice. But Chubb is on the mend from a rib injury that kept him out of that aforementioned game against Arizona, which was why the Texans had to elevate Jordan from the practice squad last week to begin with.
There's a belief that the Texans are being overly cautious with Marks. After Sunday's win, head coach DeMeco Ryans noted that Marks could've returned to the game if it was necessary, but with at least a two score lead for the entirety of the 2nd half, the Texans felt comfortable allowing Jordan to get a prolonged opportunity to contribute in his first NFL action.
Jordan took that opportunity and became the first Texans player in 14 years to rush for at least 100 yards in his first career game, and the only Texans running back this season to post a game with at least 100 yards on the ground. It was a performance that forces the Texans coaching staff to at least have to consider whether the practice squad mainstay should be on the 53-man roster for the stretch run of the season.
Putting Jordan's performance last Sunday aside for a moment because, well, it's a one-game sample size, there's no proof that any one of these backs is capable of carrying the load by himself, but as a unit, it's possible that Houston could either choose to ride the hot hand or keep a fresh ball-carrier in the game at all times the rest of the way and end up punching above their weight offensively because of it.