Texans Trade for David Montgomery Was the Perfect Response to Their Running Game Problem
The Houston Texans finished 2025 with a running game that averaged 3.9 yards per carry, tied for 29th in the NFL. That is a season-killing number for any offense trying to establish balance. So DeMeco Ryans went out and got a proven workhorse who can actually run through contact.
The Texans acquired David Montgomery from the Lions in exchange for offensive lineman Juice Scruggs, a 2026 fourth-round pick, and a 2027 seventh-round pick. The deal became official on March 11. Montgomery has two years remaining on his contract at $5.49 million and $7.49 million with no guaranteed money remaining, which makes him movable again if things go sideways.
Montgomery was frustrated with his role in Detroit. That is not a knock on the Lions, who leaned heavily on Jahmyr Gibbs as their primary back last year. It is just a reality of a two-back split. Montgomery is a between-the-tackles bruiser who wants 15 to 20 carries a game. Detroit was giving him 10 to 12. The frustration was real and mutual.
Houston needed exactly what Detroit was ready to give up. Woody Marks was inefficient as a rookie last season. The offensive line struggled to create holes. Nick Chubb was gone after his release. Joe Mixon aged out. C.J. Stroud spent too much of last season without any semblance of a running attack behind him.
Montgomery immediately becomes the RB1 in Houston. He is 29 years old, which is not young for a running back, but he has the low mileage of a player who split touches for most of his career. He averaged 4.4 yards per carry over his last three seasons with the Lions. That kind of production would immediately push Houston into the league’s top half of rushing offenses.
The trade value is also worth revisiting. Detroit got a rotation-caliber offensive lineman plus a fourth and a seventh. Houston got two years of a proven starting running back for essentially the price of a mid-round pick. That is a lopsided deal in Houston’s favor unless Scruggs turns into an All-Pro guard, which is not the current trajectory.
Stroud is the bigger picture here. Houston’s offense needs to run through him. That is only sustainable if you can occasionally hand the ball off and pick up four yards on first down. The Texans could not do that last season. They could not run out the clock. They could not convert short-yardage situations. Every drive felt like it was 3rd-and-8.
Nick Caserio’s job as general manager has been to solve those specific problems since Stroud got drafted. This trade solves one of the biggest. Now the Texans need to figure out the wide receiver depth issue behind Nico Collins and figure out the offensive line, which is a much harder ask than just trading for a running back.
Montgomery does not fix everything. He fixes one thing very clearly. And when you are trying to build a championship contender around a young quarterback in the AFC South, fixing individual things one at a time is exactly the right strategy.
The Texans got smarter this offseason. Montgomery is a big part of why.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
