David Montgomery Fantasy Stats

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans considers running back David Montgomery the team's lead back this season. Ryans said on the SiriusXM NFL show last week, "I see David as a number one back. He's a really good runner; he's always been a runner whenever he touches the ball. Strong, runs low, runs behind his pads." Montgomery spent the past three seasons with the Detroit Lions, splitting carries with star running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Despite a timeshare, he averaged 75 scrimmage yards per game and scored 33 touchdowns in 45 games. Now he heads to Houston, where he expects to lead a committee with second-year back Woody Marks. Ranked RB21 in RotoBaller's positional rankings, the veteran back has a chance to be a solid RB2 in fantasy leagues this season.

Houston Texans running back David Montgomery is not taking over an empty backfield, but he still has the better path to fantasy points. The 29-year-old was squeezed down to a career-low 158 carries in Detroit last season and still produced 716 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 4.5 yards per attempt. Houston traded for him in March, then reworked his contract into a two-year, $16.5 million deal with $10 million guaranteed. Woody Marks is not disappearing. He led the Texans with 196 carries for 703 yards as a rookie, caught 24 passes for 208 yards and three scores, and has been preparing for a larger receiving role. Current camp reporting suggests the split will change with the situation. That still leaves Montgomery as the stronger bet for the physical early-down work, with Marks mixing in on passing downs and elsewhere. RotoBaller ranks Montgomery RB21 in PPR and RB26 in dynasty. That is a fair price for a back who has scored at least eight touchdowns in three straight seasons. He remains a solid redraft RB2 and a useful win-now piece. Rebuilding teams should be willing to shop him before the age discount gets any steeper.

For the first time since his final season with the Bears in 2022, Houston Texans running back David Montgomery enters the year as the unquestioned leader of his team's backfield. With the Texans thrown an offseason curveball last year by the mysterious foot injury of presumed starter Joe Mixon, they were forced to piece the position together with a combination of veteran Nick Chubb and rookie Woody Marks, neither of whom proved particularly effective for an offense built to play with a lead. Despite sharing the Detroit backfield with perennial Pro Bowler Jahmyr Gibbs for the past three seasons, Montgomery has remained fantasy-relevant through his continued usage near the goal line, and as a player with a proven history of handling heavy workloads, he allows Marks to slip back into a more natural pass-catching role. With a defense that can help to create positive game scripts in a hurry, Montgomery should serve as the closer that this Texans offense was sorely lacking in 2025, and as RotoBaller's RB21, he represents reliable value often available in the middle rounds of drafts.

For the first time since 2023, Houston Texans running back David Montgomery projects to lead his team in carries. While he's now three years older than the player who finished that season as the RB13, and he no longer has the benefit of Ben Johnson drawing up plays for him, he still boasts tremendous upside for a player routinely slipping outside the first four rounds of 2026 drafts. While his usage has dipped in recent seasons, his efficiency has not. In his three seasons sharing a backfield with Jahmyr Gibbs, who is now comfortably in the conversation of the best backs in the game, Montgomery averaged .87 fantasy points per touch. In Houston, with one of the league's premier defenses allowing for a baseline of neutral or positive game scripts, the eighth-year veteran could see enormous volume. 2025 fourth-round pick Woody Marks was inefficient as a rookie after being thrust into lead back duty and figures to settle into a more natural pass-catching role, leaving the former Lion with the lion's share of the carries. At RotoBaller's RB21, Montgomery profiles as one of this year's safest RB2s but also has the upside to anchor a receiver-heavy build in a zero-RB strategy.

The Houston Texans traded for former Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery in the offseason and signed him to a two-year, $16.5 million extension. KPRC 2 Sports' Aaron Wilson writes that the arrival of Montgomery in Houston "should allow the Texans to build a punishing run game and become a better red-zone and play-action offense." "He's all-day tough," offensive coordinator Nick Caley said of Montgomery. "His body of work will speak for itself. Runs behind his pads, stays grounded. Arm tackles aren't getting it done. He's going to try to run through you every single chance. He can set guys up. He understands how to set blocks and to deliver and help deliver defenders to the blocker." The lack of a consistent ground game was one of the big reasons the Texans offense sputtered in 2025. Gone are Joe Mixon (foot) and veteran Nick Chubb. Monty will provide a bruising complement to the more shifty Woody Marks, who should work in more of a pass-catching role in Year 2. After being the clear lead back to Jahmyr Gibbs last year in Detroit, Montgomery should be Houston's RB1 in 2026, giving him clear RB2 upside again in fantasy football.

The Houston Texans acquired veteran running back David Montgomery from the Detroit Lions in an offseason trade, and he's set to be the lead RB this year in Houston. The Texans ran the ball 387 times a year ago, but they just weren't very effective after not having Joe Mixon (foot) for the entire season. Monty has already been receiving "rave reviews" from offensive coordinator Nick Caley, and the Texans think that Montgomery could be a "potential three-down back" in 2026 as they look to create more physicality in their running game, according to Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network. Woody Marks took over lead-back duties for the team a year ago in his rookie season out of necessity, and he's not guaranteed to have a big role in his second season as long as Montgomery stays healthy. A lot depends on the progress of Houston's offensive line and quarterback C.J. Stroud's ability to bounce back after several disappointing seasons. If those two things align, Monty could emerge as a solid RB2 for fantasy managers after seeing his role decline in 2025 in his final year in Detroit.

Houston Texans running back David Montgomery is a dynasty hold for now, but a strong start to the 2026 season could position him as an intriguing sell-high candidate. Montgomery has maintained his ranking as the overall RB29 in dynasty leagues, but now that he's 28 years old and was shipped off to the Texans in an offseason trade, managers might be hesitant to trade for him. With that being said, a productive start to the 2026 season would make him a top target for dynasty managers looking to win now. We fully expect to see Montgomery have a significant role in Houston after Woody Marks showed that he probably can't handle an every-down role. If Montgomery gets short-yardage situations (including goal-line snaps) and even some early-down work, he'll increase his trade value, becoming a midseason sell-high candidate for managers looking to stock up draft picks. On the other hand, if Montgomery's current managers are in a win-now position, he'll remain a "hold" with RB2 upside. After all, he had 900+ scrimmage yards and eight touchdowns last season, even though he was the clear No. 2 behind Jahmyr Gibbs.

After spending the last three seasons as a member of the Detroit Lions, veteran running back David Montgomery was acquired by the Houston Texans over the offseason. Montgomery had a successful stint with Detroit, recording over 2,500 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns across 45 games with the team. However, the emergence of Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs led to Montgomery averaging a career-low 10.7 touches per game in 2025. In Houston, Montgomery profiles as the clear lead back and should have a chance to re-establish himself as a top-24 fantasy running back. Montgomery is entering his age-29 season, so he may not be the long-term answer in Houston. Still, his dynasty outlook is significantly improved following his offseason change of scenery.

Houston Texans running back David Montgomery was acquired this offseason when the team sent a package, including their 2026 fourth-round pick, to the Detroit Lions. Montgomery joined a backfield that was dominated, largely out of necessity, by 2025 fourth-round pick Woody Marks, and with the Texans entering the NFL Draft with few glaring needs, there was a thought that they could add an additional body to the room. That did not come to pass, and Montgomery escaped the weekend as the clear top back on the depth chart. While splitting time with former first-round pick and three-time Pro Bowler Jahmyr Gibbs, Montgomery averaged more than 70 yards and .73 touchdowns per game in their time together. Marks is a reliable pass catcher who will prevent him from taking on a full bellcow role, but Montgomery is in a position to handle his largest workload since his time in Chicago, and at RotoBaller's dynasty RB31, he is a smart buy for contending managers.

Houston Texans running back David Montgomery earned high praise from his former head coach at this week's annual NFL meetings. Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell described Montgomery as "unbelievable" and said that the veteran running back will have an opportunity to establish himself as the Texans' bell cow. This could purely be coachspeak as Campbell tries to hype up this offseason's Lions-Texans trade, as we haven't heard the Texans echo his comments (yet). With that being said, we wouldn't be shocked to see Houston feature Montgomery in a very prominent role after actively going out and trading for him this offseason. He's a clear upgrade over rookie Woody Marks, who flashed upside but ultimately showed he's not ready to be an every-down back. Montgomery has been a top-28 fantasy running back in all seven of his NFL seasons, finishing 2025 with 716 rushing yards, 24 catches, 192 receiving yards, and eight touchdowns despite operating as the No. 2 running back behind Jahmyr Gibbs. Now that he's in a lead-back role once again, he should push for north of 1,000 rushing yards, and we can't rule out the possibility of him scoring double-digit touchdowns. After slipping to the RB3/flex tier in 2025, we wouldn't be surprised to see Montgomery bounce back as a mid-to-high RB2 in 2026. As a result, he's an intriguing buy-low candidate in dynasty leagues, despite being 28 years old.