I tend to be wary of older running backs, and 29 qualifies as old at the position. But I find myself interested in David Montgomery, who the Texans acquired from the Lions before the start of free agency.
Houston sent Detroit a fourth-round pick, a seventh-round pick, and 6th offensive lineman Juice Scruggs. Arguably only the 4th-rounder has much value, but collectively it could be viewed as comparable to a third. It's enough compensation to think that Montgomery will be starting for them this year (and that second-year back Woody Marks, himself a fourth-rounder, will be overvalued).
Montgomery averaged 4.5 yards per attempt the last three years in Detroit (Marks was at 3.6 as a rookie). Granted Detroit has a better offense and a better line, but I think the worst we can say about Montgomery at this point is he's not as good as Jahmyr Gibbs. And that's something that can be said about almost every running back in the league.
Looking at the numbers the last two years, it was interesting to see that Montgomery has been one of the league's most efficient backs in the passing game. He's caught 60 of the 67 passes sent his way, nearly 90 percent. That's No. 1 among all backs with at least 50 targets the last two years. (Marks last year was down at 67 percent, catching 24 of 36 passes thrown his way, while the back at the bottom of this table is Houston's previous starter, Joe Mixon.)
| RB RECEIVING, 2024-2025 (50+ TARGETS) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Pct |
| David Montgomery, Det. | 67 | 60 | 533 | 0 | 89.6 |
| Rachaad White, T.B. | 102 | 91 | 611 | 6 | 89.2 |
| Bucky Irving, T.B. | 87 | 77 | 669 | 3 | 88.5 |
| Tyjae Spears, Ten. | 85 | 75 | 488 | 1 | 88.2 |
| Ameer Abdullah, Ind. | 64 | 56 | 360 | 3 | 87.5 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 89 | 77 | 581 | 1 | 86.5 |
| James Conner, Ari. | 64 | 55 | 452 | 2 | 85.9 |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | 92 | 78 | 643 | 2 | 84.8 |
| DeVon Achane, Mia. | 172 | 145 | 1,080 | 10 | 84.3 |
| Jerome Ford, Cle. | 75 | 63 | 328 | 0 | 84.0 |
| James Cook, Buff. | 78 | 65 | 549 | 4 | 83.3 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 78 | 65 | 513 | 3 | 83.3 |
| Kenneth Gainwell, Pitt. | 107 | 89 | 602 | 3 | 83.2 |
| Josh Jacobs, G.B. | 87 | 72 | 624 | 2 | 82.8 |
| J.K. Dobbins, Den. | 52 | 43 | 190 | 0 | 82.7 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs, Det. | 157 | 129 | 1,133 | 9 | 82.2 |
| Zach Charbonnet, Sea. | 76 | 62 | 484 | 1 | 81.6 |
| RJ Harvey, Den. | 58 | 47 | 356 | 5 | 81.0 |
| Justice Hill, Balt. | 78 | 63 | 552 | 4 | 80.8 |
| Chase Brown, Cin. | 153 | 123 | 797 | 9 | 80.4 |
| Samaje Perine, Cin. | 56 | 45 | 409 | 1 | 80.4 |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | 175 | 140 | 1,251 | 5 | 80.0 |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | 148 | 117 | 1,070 | 7 | 79.1 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 128 | 101 | 729 | 2 | 78.9 |
| Rico Dowdle, Car. | 99 | 78 | 546 | 4 | 78.8 |
| Michael Carter, Ari. | 56 | 44 | 324 | 0 | 78.6 |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | 93 | 73 | 394 | 4 | 78.5 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 90 | 70 | 463 | 5 | 77.8 |
| Aaron Jones, Min. | 103 | 79 | 607 | 3 | 76.7 |
| Najee Harris, LAC | 51 | 39 | 308 | 0 | 76.5 |
| D'Andre Swift, Chi. | 100 | 76 | 685 | 1 | 76.0 |
| Tony Pollard, Ten. | 98 | 74 | 444 | 0 | 75.5 |
| Ashton Jeanty, L.V. | 73 | 55 | 346 | 5 | 75.3 |
| Saquon Barkley, Phi. | 93 | 70 | 551 | 4 | 75.3 |
| Breece Hall, NYJ | 124 | 93 | 833 | 4 | 75.0 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 86 | 64 | 514 | 3 | 74.4 |
| Tyrone Tracy, NYG | 101 | 74 | 572 | 3 | 73.3 |
| Kyle Juszczyk, S.F. | 59 | 43 | 413 | 4 | 72.9 |
| Ty Johnson, Buff. | 58 | 42 | 547 | 5 | 72.4 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 104 | 75 | 546 | 6 | 72.1 |
| Kareem Hunt, K.C. | 57 | 41 | 319 | 1 | 71.9 |
| Javonte Williams, Dall. | 121 | 87 | 483 | 2 | 71.9 |
| Joe Mixon, Hou. | 52 | 36 | 309 | 1 | 69.2 |
It's not a given that Montgomery will get those chances. Or that he'll start; maybe Houston likes Marks more than I think. But I imagine I'll be more interested in drafting Montgomery this summer.
--Andy Richardson
