David Montgomery Thinks Texans' Run Game Hasn't Scratched the Surface

The Houston Texans' running back room looked a whole lot different this weekend against the Buffalo Bills than it did throughout most of the 2025 season.

That's because of the presence that David Montgomery provided in his first-ever game in the Texans’ backfield. He put together an eye-catching stat line with 23 touches, 79 all-purpose yards, and three touchdowns.

While the end result of a 31-36 season opener loss wasn't what the Texans had in mind to begin the new year, seeing this type of production from their running back room and their new addition is certainly encouraging for what lies ahead.

What David Montgomery Said After His 3 TD Performance

In the mind of Montgomery himself, he feels as if the Texans' ground game is going to be the team's offensive identity throughout the season.

And perhaps more importantly, he feels he can be better than what was shown in Week 1, despite it being the only time he's logged three touchdowns in a single game.

"I kind of knew that's gonna be our identity," Montgomery said after Week 1. "[Nick Caley] believes in that, and coach [DeMeco] Ryans believes in that also. That means us and the line, the receivers, me, Woody [Marks], whenever we get the ball in our hands, we want to make it a point to take it personal and ensure that they can lean on us when they need us."

"I think the line, they're beginning to get a lot more chemistry with one another. That group, all of them boys up front, they some killers for real. They take it personal, and we'll just continue to get better. We just gotta clean up a few things. I know me, personally, I could do a whole lot better."

Sep 13, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans running back David Montgomery (32) runs with the ball during the game against the Buffalo Bills at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Knowing that Montgomery has his sights set even higher from where he finished his first game in a Texans uniform is great news for this team and their rushing offense, knowing where they ended up in 2025 without him.

As Joe Mixon was sidelined for the entire 2025 season with a foot injury we still don't know a lot about, Houston ranked within the bottom 10 of the NFL for both total rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, being led by then-rookie-runner Woody Marks and now-retired Nick Chubb.

The Texans knew they had to invest in the running back position. They did so by bringing in Montgomery via trade with the Detroit Lions for a couple of draft picks and offensive lineman Juice Scruggs, and have already started to make that investment look pretty wise just one week deep into the regular season.

And really, as long as he can stay healthy over the course of the regular season, Montgomery can let that momentum propel him to a much better year than the one he's fresh off of in Detroit; a year where he saw the lowest counting stats and overall usage of his career amid the emergence of Jahmyr Gibbs.

Now, he's the bell cow of this Texans' offense that's determined to be more involved on the ground, and has proven just that from Montgomery's 20 carries in his debut.

Based on that emphasis in usage, a 1,000-yard season from Montgomery––which he hasn't seen since 2023––might just be in the realm of possibilities in his age-29 campaign.

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