The Houston Texans last season had one of the best defensive units in the entire NFL. The Texans dug themselves out of a gigantic hole in the first half of the season going 2-5 in the standings. Not until they leaned on that ferocious defense. The Texans won 9 straight games, finished 11-5, and clinched the top wild card spot in the AFC conference. The Texans went into Pittsburgh and gave the Steelers a beatdown in the wild card round of the post-season. Then in the divisional round, the Texans defense could not overcome the mistakes the offense made in New England. CJ Stroud has regressed since his rookie season as he threw 5 interceptions in New England as the Texans were eliminated from the post-season. If Stroud avoided three of those interceptions, maybe the Texans defense could have saved the day once again. The Texans could have certainly won the AFC Championship game by beating the Broncos without their starting quarterback Bo Nix if they got past the Patriots. One of the first moves made by the Texans this off-season was adding a solid running back as they acquired 28 year David Montgomery from the Detroit Lions.

One of the quarterback’s best friends besides the offensive linemen who protects them is a solid running back. The Texans averaged 108 yards per game last year which is good for number 22 in the entire NFL rankings from the 2025 season. The Texans ran the ball by committee with two backs last year. Houston used veteran running back Nick Chubb, who the Texans signed in the off-season. Chubb had some great years with the Browns but with a season ending injury in 2024, Cleveland elected not to re-sign him. Chubb averaged 4.1 yards per carry last year in his first and probably only year in Houston. The Texans relied more on their rookie running back Woody Marks down the stretch to give Houston more of a balanced offense. Marks only averaged 3.6 yards per carry. The Texans still have Joe Mixon, the former Bengal, on their team but he missed the entire season with a foot injury. The Lions are breaking up their two headed monster they had going on the last few seasons with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. He who certainly is climbing the charts as being one of the best running backs in the NFL. In return the Texans send the Lions two draft picks and offensive lineman Juice Scruggs. Those draft picks are a 4th round selection in this April’s draft and a 7th round pick in 2027. The Lions did not make it to post-season last year. Montgomery was not happy last season with a reduced role. He played all 17 games but had the lowest amount of carries in one season of his entire career.

David Montgomery was originally selected by the Chicago Bears in the 2019 NFL draft in the 3rd round from Iowa State University. Montgomery would play four seasons in Chicago as the number 1 back on bad teams. In 2023 as a free agent, he would sign with one of the Bears arch-rivals in the NFC North, the Lions. In three seasons with the Lions, Montgomery had scored 33 touchdowns and tallied up 2.506 rushing yards. The Lions were in the post-season in back-to-back years. People would look at you funny if you told them the Lions would be in post-season in back-to-back years. Lions football has been dead in Detroit for decades before those two seasons in ’23 & ’24. Montgomery was one of the cogs that worked well in Ben Johnson’s offense as the Lions have been one of the high scoring teams over the last few seasons. Johnson left Detroit after Montgomery’s second season to take over the head coaching duties for the Bears. Last season Montgomery did average 4.5 yards per carry as he rushed for 716 yards and found the end zone 8 times. He shared the load with Jahmyr Gibbs. Gibbs got more carries. The Lions have all kinds of weapons in the passing game as well. Gibbs can also be used in the passing game. Montgomery is great at running up the middle as he can break many tackles. Great back for goal line situations as well because he can get the tough yards while getting the ball over the goal line.

Running backs are a dime a dozen these days in the NFL. The Lions have been pretty good at finding solid offensive linemen. The Lions missing the post-season is forcing them back to the drawing board. They are retooling. Juice Scruggs is a 26 year old offensive lineman who was drafted in 2023. He has three seasons in the NFL all with the Texans as a back up along with being a rotational piece on the interior part of the O-line. He is a massive 300 pound man that stands at 6’3″. The Lions get rid of David Montgomery’s salary while also adding some draft capital. The Lions could find another back to play Montgomery’s part next season. The Lions also could just make Jahmyr Gibbs their featured back and only give carries to a back up running back when he needs some rest. The Lions created some cap space for other needs on their roster with this move.

The Texans will most likely release Joe Mixon who can be a solid back but can be a headcase at the same time. Mixon is a back that can run the ball and make catches out of the back field for your team. Teaming Mixon up with Montgomery you have two sets of backs with two different sets of skill sets. Which could be a good thing and a bad thing.You have to think why the Texans made this trade. They are making Montgomery the number 1 back which will not go well for Mixon being that head case that would cause a rift in the locker room. How is Mixon’s foot that sidelined him a entire season? The Texans have upgraded their back field with this trade. Woody Marks can still get the ball and build off his rookie campaign. Montgomery can work well with others but he just needs to run the rock more to satisfy his needs. A solid running game can take the pressure of CJ Stroud. The Texans had some problems with their offensive line last year. Part of the setback was the O-line in the beginning of the season. If you are trading away guys, you have to be thinking of replacements this off-season. They have to be better replacements than the guys you are getting rid of. Montgomery will need guys ahead of him plowing him some openings. The Texans need better pass protection as well. If Houston has a solid running game, it opens up the play action pass. If the running game is solid it will help their stellar defense get more rest in the game. With a a rested defense they could be even more of a deadly unit. It seems like the Texans are taking a page out of the Seahawks playbook. Solid defense. Great running game. All’s Stroud has to do is play up to the level of a Sam Darnold who is not in the top 10 quarterbacks in the entire NFL. Darnold did not hurt his team in the post-season like Stroud did. If Stroud is still the number 1 guy in Houston which I think he is, he will have to take better care of the football. The Texans back up QB Davis Mills went 3-0 filling in for the injured Stroud. In those three wins he took care of the football.