One Position the Texans Should Consider Upgrading (And Who's Available)

The Houston Texans have remained busy in recent days when it comes to signing several depth pieces on both sides of the ball from free agency.

They brought in defensive end Jadeveon Clowney on a one-year deal, reunited with defensive tackle Mario Edwards Jr. after releasing him earlier this offseason, and signed linebacker Sione Takitaki to fill out their depth at the position after Jake Hansen suffered an ankle injury in training camp.

But there's a chance the Texans aren't done adding to their roster. Multiple weeks of training camp are on the horizon, and Houston has one area that could benefit from adding a leftover free agent on the market to fill out their depth: their running back position.

Why the Texans Should Upgrade Their RB Room

The back-end of the Texans running back roster has been an area of the team's roster that could be worth looking adding a veteran into. Houston has just six names on the roster at the position, and two of them are undrafted free agents.

But that room tends to look even slimmer without British Brooks, who reportedly suffered a broken hand earlier in training camp and projects to now be out for multiple weeks. Depending on how long his recovery takes, his absence could possibly bleed into the season.

Brooks, who's been with the Texans for the past two seasons, was slotted in as the team's most likely RB4 before training camp started; a similar role to what he held in Houston this past season. If he's forced to miss time into the season, there's a chance Houston could bring another running back on the roster to fill his void.

Jul 31, 2026; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans running back British Brooks (44) and running back David Montgomery (32) and running back Woody Marks (4) during training camp at Houston Methodist Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

So in the event the Texans were interested in adding depth to their running back room already, now would be an even better time to make that happen.

Right now, Houston has five players healthy at the position, led by three veterans in David Montgomery, Woody Marks, and Jawhar Jordan, and two UDFAs, Noah Whittington and Joshua Pitsenberger.

Adding a fourth veteran into that room, who's able to provide an impact both offensively and on special teams, feels like it could be a worthwhile investment for the Texans to make, if they wanted to bring four backs onto their 53-man roster.

Who's Available for the Texans to Sign?

There's a handful of familiar names that have made it past the bulk of free agency who the Texans can look towards on the free agent market as a spark to their running back room.

Houston already brought in two of them for a workout: Alexander Mattison and Hassan Haskins, yet so far, the team hasn't come to an agreement for either. Perhaps after the news of Brooks, the team could look their way in the coming days.

But a few other guys remain up for grabs that the Texans could take interest in as well: Raheem Mostert, Miles Sanders, Cam Akers, Elijah Mitchell, and Chase Edmonds are all names that are on the free agent market.

At the very least, one of those aforementioned veterans could be worth a training camp deal to try and prove themselves worthy of a 53-man roster spot. They could also be someone the Texans bring onto the roster at the start of the season, then release them after Brooks gets healthy as a bit of a short-term stopgap.

Regardless, after the recent moves the Texans have made to shore up a few of their depth spots around the roster, running back feels like it would be on the short list to be next up for a free agent signing, if Houston were interested in continuing to refine this roster.

Sign up for our free Houston Texans On SI newsletter, and get breaking Texans news delivered to your inbox daily!

Add us as a preferred source on Google