The Texans didn't trade for David Montgomery to be a between-the-tackles rental. They traded for him because they were sick of watching their offense run into brick walls. Houston finished 22nd in rushing yards per game last season at just 108, and that number was a weight around Stroud's neck all year. So in March, general manager Nick Caserio flipped offensive lineman Juice Scruggs, a 2026 fourth-round pick and a 2027 seventh-rounder to Detroit for a back who's put up 2,506 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns over the last three seasons. That's a real price for a guy who spent three years sharing a backfield with Jahmyr Gibbs.
Now Houston is leaning into the sell that Montgomery isn't just a power runner who mops up short yardage. "I can do everything. I try not to categorize myself," Montgomery said, and he told ESPN that offensive coordinator Nick Caley has already promised to let him show it. Head coach DeMeco Ryans has been talking up his route running specifically, which is a notable thing for a coach to bring up unprompted about a guy who's mostly known as a bruiser. Camp reportedly featured an 80-yard touchdown connection between Stroud and Montgomery, the kind of highlight that gets circulated for a reason.
The logic writes itself. Stroud needs an offense that can function on early downs without turning every third-and-long into a pressure situation. A back who can also catch checkdowns and stay on the field on passing downs is exactly the kind of piece that raises a quarterback's floor. If Montgomery is even a moderate receiving threat out of the backfield, it changes how defenses can play Houston, and that's a real value-add regardless of what his own stat line looks like.
Here's the catch, and fantasy managers need to hear it before draft day. Woody Marks isn't a camp body — he's a second-year back who reportedly closed out his rookie season strong and is now expected to split lead-back reps with Montgomery, not just spell him. That's a very different picture than the workhorse pitch that got attached to this trade back in March, and it matters for anyone drafting Montgomery as a bell-cow.
Montgomery is currently going off the board around RB22, with an ADP hovering near pick 53 — sandwiched between Travis Etienne and D'Andre Swift. That's early-round-back pricing for a player who might not actually get early-round-back volume. If this shakes out as a true committee, the 18-to-20 touch games fantasy managers are hoping for simply might not show up, and that's especially dangerous in PPR leagues if Marks starts carving into passing-down snaps.
The play here is patience. Don't reach for Montgomery as a locked-in RB2 based on the trade headline and the goal-line-role optimism from March. Watch the first two or three weeks of camp reps and preseason snap counts closely — if Montgomery is clearly getting first crack on early downs and staying on the field on third downs, the workhorse profile is back in play and he's a value at his current cost. If it's genuinely 50/50 with Marks, both backs get devalued and neither is worth an early-to-mid round pick.
There's a betting angle buried in here too. Houston's win total and offensive props are partly built on the idea that this run game finally works, which would open up play-action and keep Stroud upright. A real Montgomery-Marks committee that actually moves the needle on rushing yards per game helps the team total even if it muddies the individual fantasy pictures. Sportsbooks are betting on the offense improving as a whole — fantasy managers just have to figure out which back cashes in on it.
Bottom line: the vision the Texans are selling — Montgomery as the dual-threat spark plug who fixes the run game and lightens the load on Stroud — is real and worth watching. Just don't pay bell-cow price for a role that increasingly looks like it's got Woody Marks' fingerprints all over it too.