Detroit traded David Montgomery to Houston yesterday, just days after it was reported that he wanted out (and also after he denied it). But there's nothing surprising about the move, with Monty actually being phased out a midway through the season.
In fact, Montgomery had about half as many carries in the final eight games (54) as the first nine (104). He was healthy, he just wasn't being used as much. And that helped Jahmyr Gibbs have the best second half of any running back.
Table shows the per-game numbers the second half of last season for all running backs who either started or were in a tandem situation for at least six games. Gibbs average nearly 25 points in PPR leagues, better than McCaffrey, Bijan and everyone else. Montgomery was down at 7.7 points per week, very much a lesser No. 2.
| RUNNING BACKS PER GAME, 2ND HALF OF 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | Run | No | Rec | TD | PPR |
| Jahmyr Gibbs, Det. | 9 | 74.7 | 5.3 | 46.6 | 1.22 | 24.8 |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | 8 | 75.8 | 5.1 | 37.3 | 1.13 | 23.2 |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | 9 | 98.1 | 4.2 | 39.7 | .81 | 22.9 |
| DeVon Achane, Mia. | 7 | 106.3 | 3.4 | 30.6 | .71 | 21.4 |
| Chase Brown, Cin. | 8 | 74.9 | 4.5 | 29.5 | 1.00 | 20.9 |
| Derrick Henry, Balt. | 9 | 107.3 | 1.0 | 11.6 | 1.11 | 19.6 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 8 | 86.3 | 2.4 | 20.0 | .75 | 17.5 |
| James Cook, Buff. | 9 | 83.8 | 2.2 | 21.2 | .78 | 17.4 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 6 | 54.0 | 2.7 | 29.3 | 1.06 | 17.3 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 9 | 56.6 | 1.9 | 20.1 | 1.11 | 16.2 |
| Kenneth Gainwell, Pit. | 9 | 35.2 | 5.1 | 40.8 | .56 | 16.0 |
| RJ Harvey, Den. | 7 | 46.6 | 3.1 | 25.9 | .86 | 15.5 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 9 | 74.0 | 1.8 | 12.8 | .78 | 15.1 |
| Tyrone Tracy, NYG | 8 | 70.4 | 2.9 | 25.1 | .38 | 14.7 |
| Ashton Jeanty, L.V. | 9 | 54.2 | 3.9 | 23.7 | .44 | 14.3 |
| Saquon Barkley, Phi. | 8 | 77.6 | 1.6 | 14.3 | .42 | 13.3 |
| D'Andre Swift, Chi. | 9 | 69.2 | 1.8 | 11.9 | .56 | 13.2 |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | 9 | 61.6 | 2.1 | 15.6 | .56 | 13.2 |
| Zach Charbonnet, Sea. | 9 | 55.6 | 1.4 | 9.7 | .78 | 12.6 |
| Javonte Williams, Dall. | 7 | 69.3 | 1.4 | 6.3 | .57 | 12.4 |
| Breece Hall, NYJ | 8 | 60.5 | 1.9 | 21.5 | .38 | 12.3 |
| Tony Pollard, Ten. | 8 | 75.3 | 1.8 | 7.9 | .38 | 12.3 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 9 | 61.7 | 2.3 | 22.4 | .22 | 12.1 |
| Josh Jacobs, G.B. | 7 | 56.4 | 1.9 | 11.1 | .57 | 12.0 |
| Bucky Irving, T.B. | 6 | 58.5 | 1.8 | 14.0 | .33 | 11.1 |
| Rico Dowdle, Car. | 8 | 42.6 | 3.0 | 20.6 | .25 | 10.8 |
| Aaron Jones, Min. | 8 | 51.1 | 2.6 | 15.0 | .25 | 10.7 |
| Quinshon Judkins, Cle. | 7 | 48.7 | 2.0 | 15.9 | .33 | 10.5 |
| Chris Rodriguez, Was. | 6 | 52.7 | .5 | 5.0 | .67 | 10.3 |
| Blake Corum, LAR | 9 | 55.0 | .4 | 2.3 | .56 | 9.5 |
| Woody Marks, Hou. | 8 | 57.8 | 1.4 | 5.4 | .25 | 9.2 |
| Tyjae Spears, Ten. | 9 | 16.4 | 4.0 | 21.0 | .13 | 8.5 |
| Michael Carter, Ari. | 7 | 32.3 | 2.7 | 24.0 | .00 | 8.3 |
| Kyle Monangai, Chi. | 9 | 36.4 | 1.1 | 10.1 | .38 | 8.0 |
| Tyler Allgeier, Atl. | 9 | 33.4 | 1.0 | 8.4 | .44 | 7.9 |
| David Montgomery, Det. | 9 | 35.7 | 1.2 | 9.6 | .33 | 7.7 |
There was a decent chance that Gibbs was going to be the 1st or 2nd running back drafted this year even if Montgomery were still around. Detroit will probably be adding someone else to the backfield (probably someone better than Sione Vaki or Craig Reynolds), but now it's a no-doubter.
As for Montgomery, well, we pretty much knew Joe Mixon was done in Houston anyway; now it's a certainty. It's a negative for Woody Marks, but I don't think there was much doubt Houston would add someone else at the position. Adding a 29-year-old (in June) running veteran seems a better-case scenario for Marks (they won't, for example, be signing Kenneth Walker or Tyler Allgeier or anything).
I don't think I'll have a lot of interest in Montgomery next year, moving from one of the best running games to a lesser group. But I sure do like Gibbs.
--Andy Richardson
